Two Run Seventh Pushes VCU to 3-2 Baseball Victory Over Highlanders

RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth rallied for two runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to post a 3-2 victory over visiting Radford in baseball Wednesday afternoon at The Diamond. (Box Score)

With the win the Rams moved to 17-5 overall and are now 14-2 in home games this season. The Highlanders lost four the fourth consecutive time and fell to 4-8 on the year.

VCU trailed 2-1 heading into the bottom of the seventh before stringing together three consecutive doubles off a pair of Radford relievers. After freshman first baseman Gabe Riley led off the inning with a two-bagger off the right field wall, junior second baseman Nick Jones tied the contest by stroking a run-scoring double off Highlanders’ lefthander Brian Williamson (0-1). Sophomore catcher Jeff Parrish then greeted junior Shaun House with a double in the left-center field gap to plate Jones with the go-ahead score.

Rams’ sophomore Cla Meredith improved to 4-0 on the year with two perfect innings of relief. The righthander struck out four of the six hitters he faced before giving way to junior closer Brian Marshall, who shut Radford down in the ninth to record his fourth save.

The Highlanders took a 2-1 lead with an unearned run in the top of the seventh. Sophomore second baseman Alan Ashworth opened the frame with a bunt single and took another base when VCU junior Anthony Granato threw wildly to first. Ashworth then moved to third on a wild pitch and came home on junior right fielder Ryan Wetzel’s RBI groundout.

Radford put the game’s first run on the board in the fourth when junior shorstop Stuart Ritchie doubled, moved to third on a flyout off the bat of Ashworth, and crossed the plate on a ground ball from sophomore left fielder

Kellen Wohlford. The Rams tied the score in the bottom of the inning when Riley singled home junior center fielder Eric Latura, who opened the stanza with a base hit.

The Highlanders received a fine outing on the mound from sophomore starter Cory Koliscak, who held VCU to one run and five hits while fanning six batters in six innings of work. Senior Michael Leishman allowed just two hits and one run over the first four frames for VCU and also did not factor in the decision.

Riley and Jones each collected two hits each for the Rams in the win, while Ritchie and Ashworth accounted for four of Radford’s five hits on the day.

RU will begin its 2003 Big South Conference schedule this Friday at Elon.