Baseball records program’s 1,000th victory in win over Norfolk State
Paul Keyes was worried he had left Blake Hauser on the mound one pitch too long.
Jim Swing
Sports Editor
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Paul Keyes was worried he had left Blake Hauser on the mound one pitch too long. Holding on to a one-run lead over Norfolk State in the top of the ninth inning with two outs and one runner on base, the VCU baseball head coach was relieved by his most reliable closer.
Much to Keyes relief, Hauser forced a slow-rolling ball out in front of the catcher who recorded the final out in a 4-3 win over the Spartans Tuesday afternoon.
“He’s been great,” Keyes said. “He came in in a real pressure-type situation and sort of bailed me out because I let him stay out one hitter too long.”
Hauser, a junior, came in midway through the top of the eighth inning with runners on second and third base with one out and fanned two-straight batters to end the inning. The Chesterfield native struck out four of the six batters he faced in one and two-thirds of an inning to record his team-high third save of the season.
“That’s what he’s here for; he’s our closer,” said sophomore outfielder Bill Cullen, who went 2-for-4 with two RBIs on the day. “There’s no one better. That’s who we want out there in tough situations.”
Norfolk State took a one-run lead in the top of the third inning, but from there it was mostly VCU. The Rams tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a single to right field by Joey Cujas that scored Paul Nice from second base. Three innings later VCU was able to gain a little bit of separation. With two outs and the bases loaded, Cullen floated a teardrop into centerfield that scored Chris Ayers and Taylor Perkins to give the Rams a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the six.
Cullen has hit in six of his last 12 at-bats and has recorded four RBIs in the past three games.
“Billy, Joey Cujas and Paul Nice have been really three consistent guys,” Keyes said. “(Cullen’s) been really good as a catalyst for us.”
Seth Cutler-Voltz (1-1) got his second start of the season for the Rams and gave up seven hits and just one earned run in seven innings on the mound. He recorded six strikeouts on 26 batters faced and 112 total pitches.
“He looked a little rusty, but I think the more he threw he worked some things out, I thought as we went along,” Keyes said.
Tuesday afternoon’s win marked VCU’s 1,000th victory in the program’s 43-year history. In his 18th year as head coach, Keyes has racked up 574 of those wins.
“It’s a nice number,” Keyes said. “Obviously means we’ve won a lot of games here at VCU and had a pretty successful program.”
After losing four of their first five games, the Rams have now won four-straight games since returning home from their California road trip at the beginning of the season. They play host to Monmouth in a three-game series this weekend at The Diamond.
“Once we got back here, back at our home field,” Cullen said, “we’re not going to let anyone beat us at home.”
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Photo by Chris Conway
