Quinn Casteel
Assistant Sports Editor
The VCU (12-12, 3-6) baseball team allowed three unearned runs in a 4-0 loss to UNC-Wilmington (12-11, 7-2) on Sunday afternoon, dropping the game and also the series as the Seahawks left Richmond with two wins in three days over the weekend.
After winning a 12-inning thriller over the Seahawks on Saturday, the Rams were without answers all afternoon for UNCW starting pitcher Jordan Ramsey, who gave up three hits and walked just one in 7.1 innings of work. Ramsey struck out six VCU hitters and lowered his ERA to 2.3 as he earned the second win of his young career.
“He was really outstanding. Probably the best game he’s thrown for them all year,” VCU head coach Paul Keyes said on Ramsey. “I was a little disappointed we weren’t able to get to his fastball more.”
Ramsey’s performance overshadowed that of his VCU counterpart, fellow freshman Heath Dwyer, who went seven innings and gave up just one earned run. In the second start of his career, Dwyer fanned five batters but took the loss as his team went scoreless for the first time all season.
“I thought he was great, and if we had played a little tighter defense, I don’t know if they score,” Keyes said of his freshman pitcher.
“I’m happy with my outing, but I want to see the team win,” added Dwyer.
A throwing error by catcher Nick Abrahamson on an attempted steal of third in the top of the first led to UNCW’s first run, and then two more miscues in the seventh allowed the Seahawks to extend the lead to four. Dwyer gave up an RBI double early in the inning, but a misplay at first base by Taylor Perkins, followed by a poor throw from second baseman Jordan Weymouth, accounted for two more unearned UNCW runs.
“On days like today where it’s misty, The Diamond will play where the team that makes the mistakes on the defensive end will lose the game, and that’s what happened to us today,” Keyes said. “You can say we gave it to them, which we did, but I thought it was a pretty good ball game. If we had kept it a little closer I think we would’ve got them at the end but we were not able to.”
Despite the continuous offensive struggles for VCU, stringing together just four hits in the game, they managed to load the bases and bring the potential tying run to the plate in the bottom of the ninth. However, UNCW closer William Prince came in to record the final out and earned his third save of the year, getting Weymouth to ground out to end the game.
With the loss, the Rams have now dropped six of their last seven games. They are 10-4 at home but struggle on the road, having won just two of 10 away games. They go back on the road this week for a game against Liberty, followed by a weekend series in Boston with Northeastern.
“We’re just not ready to go when we’re on the road,” Dwyer said. “We haven’t had the mindset coming into a hostile environment. That’s always the biggest challenge playing on the road, but we just need to take it as another baseball game.”
Eight of the Ram’s next 13 games will be on the road, giving them plenty of time to get their struggles away from The Diamond sorted out. VCU faces Liberty on Tuesday at 6 p.m. CT