Baseball strikes gold in intrasquad scrimmage

Kris Mason
Staff Writer

As Major League Baseball was concluding its World Series matchup between the Kansas City Royals and the San Francisco Giants, VCU baseball was host to a world series of their own between Oct. 27 and Oct. 31.

VCU baseball’s Black and Gold intrasquad scrimmage game split their team in two for the annual fall classic at the Diamond, the stadium where the Richmond Squirrels, a Double-A affiliate of 2014 World Series champions, the San Francisco Giants, play.

The Black and Gold World Series is the the highlight of the fall season due to the fact that there are no games against other universities. It provides a reward for the long, grueling practice schedule of the fall.

The Gold team won all three seven-inning games, winning the first game on Oct. 27, 14-3, the second game on Oct. 29, 4-3 and the final game on Halloween night, 4-1.

Throughout the series, senior right-handed pitcher Matt Blanchard was outstanding. He pitched five scoreless innings throughout the series, including four in the first game. He also recorded seven strikeouts in the first game, only allowing three runners on base.

In the third inning, the Gold team would score nine runs as 13 different batters took the plate. That extended the lead from 5-0 to 14-0.

In game two, the Gold jumped out to an early 3-0 lead in the second inning. The offense star of the game was sophomore infielder Matt Davis. Davis went three for three with a walk and a run scored. Junior pitcher Ben Stine pitched three innings, allowing no runs and two hits.

In the series finale, the Gold team continued its dominance. Junior outfielder Cody Acker drove in two runs in the four-run fifth inning to give the Gold team a 4-1 advantage, which concluded the sweep.

Despite losing the series 3-0, there was a bright spot for the Black team.

Black team member Senior shortstop Vimael Machin was awarded the Quality At-Bats (QAB) for the entire fall practice season.

Student manager Connor Bailey felt Machin was the most deserving of the award.

“Throughout the intersquad scrimmages and Black and Gold World Series, Machin not only hit the best, but put together the best at-bats out of any of the offensive players on the team,” Bailey said.

Per team rules, the Black team had to serve banana splits to the Gold team.

“The guys worked really hard and were focused all fall,” head coach Shawn Stiffler said. “We got a chance to access our strengths and weaknesses and now it’s time to get back into individual skill work and keep improving each day.”

The Rams begin the 2015 season Feb. 13 at the Wake Forest tournament.

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