Baseball’s Farrar hits walk off single against ranked Maryland
Kris Mason
Staff Writer
Sophomore centerfielder Logan Farrar’s walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th inning gave VCU a 2-1 victory over No. 21 University of Maryland Terrapins at the Diamond on Tuesday, April 21.
For Farrar, it was his first walk-off in his VCU career, after being intentionally walked in the eighth inning with a runner on second. In the 10th inning, there was nowhere for the Terps to put Farrar with the bases loaded.
Farrar said his approach at the plate changed when he got down to his last strike.
“I got two strikes, said ‘I can’t strike out’ and put the ball in play hard,” Farrar said. “I looked for something that I could just get my barrell to toward the middle of the field and I got it there.”
The game was a low-scoring affair with strong pitching from both sides. VCU used a team effort with freshman Sean Thompson, senior Tyler Buckley and senior Matt Lees all pitching three innings. Senior Daniel Concepcion came in for the final two outs in the top of the 10th inning to relieve Lees. Two runners were on base when Concepcion entered the game, but he did not allowing a run, which earned him a win and improved his record to 2-2 on the year.
Maryland scored on a single in the second inning. VCU tied the game in the seventh inning when a runner scored as redshirt freshman Brett Hileman grounded into a double play. The game would remain tied until Farrar’s walk-off hit.
Farrar said he felt that this was an important win for the Rams.
“With Maryland being so close and us always playing close games with Maryland, it felt great to get a win against a great team,” Farrar said. “They are the 21st-ranked team in the nation right now so it just feels great getting a big win for us.”
The Rams played the next day on the Terrapins turf in College Park, Maryland and came out of the matchup with a 3-1 victory. Junior Ben Stine pitched five scoreless innings in his second career start to earn the win. Junior outfielder Cody Acker had three hits and freshman second baseman Daane Berezo went 2-3 with two walks and an RBI.
As of April 23, the win improved the Rams’ record to 24-16 overall and 7-5 in the A-10 conference for fifth place. Saint Louis University and the University of Richmond are tied for first place with records of 9-3.
VCU played this past weekend April 24-26 against the University of Rhode Island at Randolph-Macon College. The series was rescheduled because of rainouts earlier in the year and the Diamond hosting the BC Squirrels this past weekend.
