Rams knock it out of the park, defeating Quinnipiac Bobcats 14-4 on Saturday

Redshirt junior outfielder Logan Amiss at bat against Quinnipiac on Sunday, March 20, at The Diamond. Photo by Jay Stonefield

Tom Callahan, Contributing Writer

The VCU Rams baseball team beat the Quinnipiac University Bobcats in the second of a three game series on Saturday, winning 14-4; VCU has struggled to start this season, winning only three of its first ten games.

The first game of the series was a comfortable 8-2 win. VCU capitalized on Quinnipiac’s mistakes late in the home half of the eighth inning, driving in four runs. The game extended the team’s win streak to five and it’s beginning to seem like the 11 freshmen are settling into college ball. 

Freshman left-handed pitcher Chase Huntgate is one of those 11 and has started the season well. Huntgate said he’s calm when it comes to getting results and his approach relies more on his defenders.

“It’s definitely been different. I mean hitters are much better, there’s no fall offs in the lineup, the misses are much much smaller, pitchers throw harder and have better skills,” Huntgate said. “You have to attack each hitter and have faith in your defense.”

Coming into today’s game, the turnover of VCU’s roster as well as what to expect from preseason All-American redshirt sophomore third baseman Tyler Locklear, were things to watch.

Starting Saturday’s game was left-handed pitcher and sophomore, Campbell Ellis. Ellis, one of six Canadian players on VCU’s roster, got off to a solid start. In the six games he’s opened, Eillis has maintained a batting average against of around .250, according to VCU athletics.

Getting the game underway on a beautiful, 75 degree afternoon, Ellis couldn’t help but start strong, forcing an easy out from Quinnipiac’s first batter before striking out the next two; all three of whom are currently batting over .300, which is above the Atlantic 10 average of .256, according to Baseball-Reference.

The Rams were able to bring a runner home in both the first and third innings off the back of a strong start pitching. VCU sophomore shortstop Connor Hujsak picked up a double of his to bring in Haydak, who hit his own earlier in the inning.

With the wind and temperature picking up, Ellis heated up too, grabbing two more strikeouts. In the bottom of the third, VCU redshirt sophomore center-fielder Scottie O’Bryan, who has been struggling to start the season, hit VCU’s third double of the game, moving up to third base on a failed throw by the pitcher. 

The lineup turning over allowed Haydak to hit one to second base, bringing Scottie home and doubling the Rams lead. Ellis, pitched well through the first three innings, to force outs for Quinnipiac’s and grabbed his fifth strikeout along the way.

One player, who didn’t quite enjoy the same spoils as his teammates, was All-American redshirt sophomore third baseman Tyler Locklear. Locklear, who is tied for seventh in the A-10 for runs batted in, failed to get a hit today. Locklear said he understands the skill of the competition he’s playing against and believes the key to success is taking it one at-bat at a time.

“The A-10 [Atlantic 10] is a good conference and a lot of good arms come out of it, including a second rounder last year from Fordham, and in the summer, every arm was good.” Locklear said. “So you just kinda take it one at bat at a time, waiting for a good pitch to hit and try to drive it. It never really changes.”

Quinnipiac, needing to get it’s stalling offense started, did so in the fifth inning and managed to get its first hit. No VCU pitcher has thrown for more than four innings so far this season. That changed after Ellis struck out Quinnipiac’s next batter. However, he was pulled immediately after doing so and replaced by redshirt junior pitcher Evan Chenier.

Chenier didn’t get out to the greatest of starts. He hit his first batter and allowed the next to drive in Quinnipiac’s first run on a single he hit to left field. Before the end of the inning, Quinnipiac was able to score twice-more, bringing the game to 3-2.

Despite early struggles, VCU head coach Shawn Stiffler, understands the problems aren’t permanent, saying the team had to take its time to achieve productive outcomes. 

“There was a period there where I wasn’t sure we were ever gonna see .500,” Stiffler said. “We really cleaned things up on the pitching and defensive side, that’s what allowed us to take our time, and get our breath and, hopefully, things are starting to, we think, see positive results offensively right now,” Stiffler said.

Chenier was pulled in the sixth after allowing four hits, being replaced by lefty VCU redshirt pitcher Jaden Griffin. The Rams demonstrated why they were selected as winners in the A-10 coaches’ poll in the bottom of the seventh. After two hits and a walk, redshirt sophomore Will Carlone was able to drive a single into the right side of the field, scoring two runs. 

A fielding error by Quinnipiac allowed two more runners to score after another walk loaded the bases, making the game 6-3. The Rams weren’t done yet, though, with redshirt junior Scottie O’Brien hitting his first homerun of the season to score three runs, making the score 9-3. 

The sun started its descent behind the right side of the stands after the seventh inning and the game was all but over for Quinnipiac. They were able to score a run themselves, but were unable to prevent Hujsak from registering his second hit of the game on a shallow home run to left field. In what can only be described as a dominant scoring performance for the Rams, the team tacked on an extra four runs to make the final score, 14-4.  

The last of this three game series will be played today, Sunday, March 20. The first pitch will be thrown at 1 p.m. at The Diamond. The game will be televised on ESPN+.  

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