Rams soar past the Hawks in 2-1 series
First-year infielder Adrian Jimenez at bat during series win against Saint Joseph's University. Photo courtesy of VCU Athletics.
Dan Elson, Contributing Writer
Stacy Watkins, Contributing Writer
The Rams, who are now 7-20 on the season, have won three out of their last four games and completed a series win against the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks.
Friday, March 28
The Rams beat the Hawks 6-3 and won back-to-back games for the first time this season.
Rams first-year second baseman Nick Flores went 3-for-4 at the plate with two RBIs. First-year designated hitter Adrian Jimenez went 2-for-5. Graduate student pitcher Owen Tappy pitched sixth and two-thirds innings, gave up two runs, six hits and struck out 10. Tappy improved to 3-1 on the season and now has a 3.05 ERA.
“Obviously he threw the baseball really well,” said Rams head coach Sean Thompson. “We needed it. Something he’s been wanting to do for a while, to start for us and felt like it was kind of the right time for our team this year.”
Second-year right fielder Trent Adelman started off VCU’s scoring in the bottom of the second with a base hit, which led to a stolen base, and then advanced to third on a balk. VCU second-year third baseman Nate Kirkpatrick’s sacrifice bunt brought him home to tie the game.
Fourth-year left fielder Will Henson and Jimenez’s base hits set the table for VCU in the bottom of the sixth. Jiminez scored off an RBI single from Flores to tie the game at 2-2.
“And obviously a chance to tie it up, told him to go up there, be very aggressive and we have a scouting report on the guy,” Thompson said.
VCU first baseman graduate student Sean Swenson delivered an RBI single to bring home Flores, giving the Rams a 3-2 lead.
Flores lined a single to right field in the bottom of the seventh, which scored fourth-year catcher Jacob Lee to give the Rams a 4-2 lead. Later in the inning, Lee scored on a wild pitch and extended the lead to 5-2. Then Flores scored on the Hawks’ second wild pitch of the inning and gave the Rams a four-run lead.
Saturday, March 29
The Rams rallied in the ninth inning and beat the Hawks 4-3.
The Rams tied the game up in the bottom of the ninth on a fielder’s choice, which scored redshirt third-year outfielder Bobby Lane, who pinch-ran for first baseman Sean Swenson, a graduate student. Catcher Jacob Lee, a first-year, won the game for the Rams on a sacrifice fly to center field, which scored fourth-year shortstop Casey Kleinman.
“That was awesome,” catcher Jacob Lee said. “I mean, those bunts is something we practice every day. Early work, we’re here. We’re doing squeezes, we’re doing safety squeezes, we’re doing hit and runs.”
Jimenez and Kleinman both produced multi-hit games and Henson went 1-for-3 at the plate. Rams pitcher Max Moore pitched three innings, gave up one run on four hits, walked three, and struck out one batter. VCU first-year pitcher Cooper Campbell, who earned the win, pitched one and a third inning and gave up one run on one hit.
Jimenez started the bottom of the first with a double into right field. Jimenez then advanced to third on a passed ball. An RBI single from Henson brought him home to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.
A lead-off walk for Adelman set the tone for the bottom of the fourth. Kleinman laid a bunt for an RBI single that brought Adelman home and gave the team a 2-1 lead.
Sunday, March 30
The Hawks avoided a sweep on a go-ahead solo home run from third baseman Owen Petrich in the top of the ninth inning to beat the Rams 6-5.
A double by left fielder Will Henson in the bottom of the fourth was the second hit for VCU. Henson scored the Rams’ first run on an RBI double to left center by first baseman Sean Swenson to cut the Hawks’ lead to 3-1.
Catcher Jacob Lee doubled to left field and third baseman Nate Kirkpatrick tried to score and collided with Duda at the plate. This could have cut the lead to 3-2, but after the play was reviewed, the call was overturned.
“It was a little bit unfortunate the way the rules is kind of written,” Thompson said. “It’s not very advantageous for the base runner there, but it was part of the game. I thought our guys did a really good job overcoming that, you know, not letting that decide the game right there.”
First-year designated hitter Adrian Jimenez cut the lead to 3-2 on a single to left field and an error by left fielder Sam Meyer. Jimenez was able to reach second on the error.
In the bottom of the sixth, Kirkpatrick brought the lead back to two on a sacrifice fly that scored right fielder Trent Alderman, who walked.
Back-to-back singles from Kleinman and Kirkpatrick started off the bottom of the eighth. A sac-bunt from Werchan put both runners into scoring position, which led to catcher Jacob Lee’s RBI single, which made the score 5-4.
Henson continued the inning with an RBI single into center, which tied the game.
Lee, Jimenez, Henson, and Swenson all had multi-hit games at the plate. For the Hawks, Petrich went 3-for-3 at the plate, scored three runs, and drove in one.
Hawks first-year pitcher Sam Greer pitched one and two-thirds of an inning and earned the win. Rams pitcher James McGrady earned the loss.
“All I can give is glory to God,” Jimenez said. “I’ve been relying on him and trusting my abilities at the plate. I don’t try to do too much, just trying to keep everything back up the middle and let my abilities take over.”
