DAVIDSON, N.C. – Reinforced by a career outing from Will Carlone along with a key relief performance out of Chase Hungate, second-seeded VCU (40-18, 19-5 A-10) orchestrated an authoratative victory over cross-city rival No. 7 Richmond (30-26, 11-13 A-10) in the Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship Final, overwhelming the Spiders behind a 10-7 decision early Saturday afternoon at Wilson Field.
With the win, the Rams lock down the program's third-ever Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship Title, not to mention second in as many years, as well as the league's automatic berth into the upcoming NCAA Tournament. Selections and matchups for the NCAA Championship are set to be announced on Monday, May 30 at noon ET via ESPN2.
The rivalry collision served as a rematch of the third and final A-10 First Round contest, which ended with VCU staving off a late Richmond rally in the ninth inning.
The fiery history between the two programs ignited both sets of bats throughout the Championship Final, as Carlone kicked off the scoring early on with a two-RBI single through the left side, vaulting the Rams to a quick advantage. The Spiders responded just an inning later, however, plating three off the bats of Zach Lass, D.J. Pacheco and Christian Beal for their first and only lead of the game.
Carlone, who finished the matchup with a career-best seven RBI, knocked a decisive grand slam just one out deep into the third, elevating VCU to an edge it would never surrender. A pair of singles off the bats of Jake Elbeery in the bottom of the frame and Dominic Toso to close out the fourth allowed UR to even the game at 6-6, but the breakout sixth for the Rams essentially clinched the contest in their favor.
Deadlocked at six apiece, a bases-loaded wild pitch opened the door for Marcus O'Malley to slide home, earning VCU back its edge. A Logan Amiss RBI groundout along with the final Carlone RBI – this time on a blooper single to shallow right – carried the Rams to a 9-6 advantage entering the final stretch.
Jason Neff picked up the final Spider run on a seventh-inning RBI single to shallow center before Tyler Locklear put an exclamation point on the eventual VCU victory off a solo round-tripper in the ninth.
On the mound, Campbell Ellis contributed a decent start for VCU, tossing 3.1 frames with six runs allowed on 10 hits and zero walks. Hungate (W, 6-4) took over in the fourth, consistently setting down Richmond batters with no earned runs surrendered on just three hits across 4.2 frames of work. Jack Masloff (S, 5) stepped in for the ninth-inning save, throwing a total seven pitches with one strikeout.
The 2022 Atlantic 10 Baseball All-Championship Team was composed of Davidson's Nolan DeVos and Jacob Friend, George Mason's Connor Dykstra, Saint Joseph's Andrew Cossetti, Richmond's Johnny Hipsman, Alden Mathes, Jason Neff and Dominic Toso and VCU's Will Carlone, Chase Hungate, Tyler Locklear and AJ Mathis. Locklear, who finished with six RBI and nine runs scored behind an .818 batting average and 2.627 OPS with three home runs, earned distinction as the Most Outstanding Player.