Rhode Island Lineup
White (CF), Brodeur (2B), Ulliana (C), Vargas (1B), Butler (DH), Fortin (3B), Mircovich (RF), Ramirez (SS), McCall (LF), Webb (P)
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VCU Lineup
Carpenter (1B), Locklear (3B), Hibbits (DH), Henson (LF), Schroeder (RF), Vay (C), Haydan (2B), Huysak (SS), Brown (CF), Webb (P)
How it Happened
Rhode Island (28-25-1) appeared to have something going in the bottom of the third as
Calvin McCall was hit by a pitch before advancing to third on a base hit by
Austin White. White then stole second to give the Rams two runners in scoring position, but a called third strike on
Sonny Ulliana ended the Rams' chances.
VCU (36-14) threatened in its next trip to the plate, putting a pair runners on, but
Alex Ramirez snagged a liner up the middle and stepped on second to complete an unassisted, inning-ending double play.
VCU later pushed across the first runs of the game in the top of the sixth when A-10 Player of the Year Tyler Locklear crossed the plate on a sacrifice fly by Jack Schroeder. Liam Hibbits then scored from first on a double by Hunter Vay to give VCU a 2-0 advantage.
Rhode Island came right back in the bottom of the inning as
Max Mircovich doubled to drive in
Joe Fortin and
Billy Butler, evening the game at 2-2.
Ulliana then launched his second round-tripper of the tournament in the bottom of the seventh, sending a two-run shot to left centerfield to put URI up 4-2.
VCU broke things open in the top of the eighth however, scoring six runs on seven hits before tacking on two more in the ninth for the 10-4 victory.
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Inside the Box Score
- The win extends VCU nation-leading win streak to 20 games.
- Sonny Ulliana went 2-for-4 and drove in two runs on his second homer run of the tournament.Â
- Ulliana was the only Ram to finish with multiple hits as Rhody was outhit 18-6.
- Max Mircovich and Joe Fortin both doubled for URI. Mircovich drove in two runs while Fortin scored once.Â
- Austin White singled, walked, scored a run and stole a base. He is now 16-for-16 in stolen base attempts this season.
- Calvin McCall got on base twice, both times via hit-by-pitch.
- Eight different pitchers - five for Rhode Island and three for VCU - combined to issue just three walks throughout the game.
- Mike Webb tossed seven complete innings in the no-decision start. He gave up two runs and struck out five while issuing just one walk. Eighty two of his 119 pitches were strikes.
- Vitaly Jangols took the loss, allowing four runs on five hits through 0.2 innings of relief.
- VCU's Edwin Serrano earned the win, closing out the game with three innings of one-hit relief.
Up Next
Rhode Island will now take on Dayton in an elimination game set to begin at 3:30 p.m.