TYSONS, Va. — Top-seeded Saint Joseph's and No. 3 VCU traded momentum for six innings before the Rams erupted for 10 runs in the seventh inning to pull away for a 13-3 victory Friday night at Capital One Park in the Atlantic 10 Baseball consolation bracket final.
VCU (35-23) finished with 13 runs on 10 hits and overcame a pair of Saint Joseph’s rallies behind a game-changing seventh inning that featured six hits, five walks or hit batters and a three-run triple from Dante DeFranco.
The game had started Friday evening, but sudden heavy rains caused an overnight suspension with VCU leading 2-0 in the bottom of the first inning. The game’s restart was then delayed further before the wet weather that has plagued the entire championship lightened up, and the game restarted at 1:00 pm.
The Hawks (36-20) rallied after falling behind early, tying the game in the third when Alex Kelsey walked, stole second and advanced to third on an error before Joey Pagano delivered a two-out RBI single. Tim Dickinson then gave Saint Joseph’s a 2-0 lead in the fourth with a leadoff solo homer to deep right, his fourth of the season.
VCU answered in the sixth against reliever Matt Speicher. Jacob Lee opened the inning with a walk and moved to second on Nick Flores’ sacrifice bunt before Alec Warden lined an RBI double down the right-field line to even the score at 2-2.
The Rams then broke the game open in the seventh. Trent Adelman led off with a single and DeFranco followed with another hit before stealing second. Consecutive RBI walks by Teige Lethert and Lee pushed VCU back in front, and Flores added an RBI single. After Quinn Maher and Warden were both hit by pitches with the bases loaded, DeFranco cleared the bases with a triple down the right-field line to cap the inning. Michael Petite followed with an RBI single, and another run scored on an error as VCU sent 15 batters to the plate.
DeFranco finished 2 for 5 with three runs scored and three RBI, while Petite went 2 for 4 with a double, two RBI and two walks. Lee doubled, drove in two runs and scored twice, and Warden added a double and two RBI.
Saint Joseph’s collected seven hits, including two from Pagano. Kelsey reached base three times and drove in a run, while Dickinson homered and scored twice.
VCU grabbed a 2-0 lead in the first inning before the Friday suspension halted play. Petite doubled and scored on Lee’s RBI double, and Flores followed with an RBI single.
Patrick Steitz (4-0) earned the win in relief for VCU, allowing one run on three hits over 3 2/3 innings with one strikeout. Zachary Peters added 1 1/3 scoreless innings of relief, and Cooper Weygandt tossed a scoreless ninth.
Andrew Gaines (3-3) took the loss for Saint Joseph’s after being charged with five runs without recording an out in the seventh inning. Christian Coppola stabilized the game after the first-inning delay, allowing no runs over 4 1/3 innings of relief.