DAVIDSON, N.C. – After solidifying a comfortable four-run advantage entering the final stretch, second-seeded VCU (37-18, 19-5 A-10) survived a proverbial close call late in the final game of the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship's opening day, as cross-city rival and No. 7 overall Richmond (26-25, 11-13 A-10) fought back to within one run during a tumultuous ninth inning before eventually falling short to the defending champion Rams by a final 4-3 mark Tuesday evening at Wilson Field.
With the victory, the Rams move on to Wednesday's mid-afternoon clash within in the winner's bracket, matching wits against sixth-seeded Saint Joseph's for a opportunity to clinch a semifinals berth. Meanwhile, Richmond falls into the consolation bracket, locking swords with No. 4 Rhode Island in either Wednesday's nightcap. Both contests will be broadcast live via ESPN+.
The two rivals opened the matchup at a relatively slow offensive pace, never gaining any serious traction throughout the first four innings of play. VCU managed to land the initial salvo later in the fifth, though, as a Jacob Selden RBI double along with a Marcus O'Malley RBI single each tacked on two for the Rams.
VCU continued to search for opportunities on the attack, again finding some space in the seventh behind a deep Logan Amiss two-RBI single down the right-field line.
A soon-to-be shutout Richmond squad, however, orchestrated an offensive surge of their own to close out the ninth, initially earning back-to-back walks before setting up a serious bases loaded threat via a short single. The Spiders cashed in two at-bats later, plating one on an RBI single from Zach Lass to set up a two-RBI fielder's choice for D.J. Pacheco, officially narrowing the deficit to just one run.
In spite of the rally, though, VCU required just a single strikeout to ensure the comeback bid fell short.
On the mound, the Rams received solid production from Campbell Ellis out of the gate, as the sophomore southpaw tossed 4.0 complete innings with just one hit given up. Chase Hungate (W, 5-4) took over for the next 3.0 frames, securing his fifth win of the season while surrendering two hits to the Spiders. Jack Masloff held off the late Richmond attack, allowing three runs on three hits while walking four and striking another four.