TOWSON, Md. - Senior righthander Robbie Andrews earned his fifth save of the season and pitched out of an eighth inning jam as Colonial Athletic Association-leading Virginia Commonwealth University (17-14, 7-1) handed the Tigers (9-22, 5-6) a 7-4 loss in the second game of their three-game CAA weekend series at John B. Schuerholz Park on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams, who blanked the Tigers by 10-0 in the series opener, clinched their third straight CAA weekend series win by beating Towson for the second day in a row.
For the second straight game, VCU received an outstanding performance from its starting pitcher as freshman righthander Kyle Haynes threw seven strong innings. His performance came one day after sophomore righthander Seth Cutler-Voltz pitched a five-hit shutout against the hard-hitting Tigers, who came into the series with a .301 team batting average.
While earning his third win of the season, Haynes scattered seven hits over seven innings and allowed two runs. He walked one and had two strikeouts before turning the game over to the Rams' bullpen. However, he did hit four batters with pitches.
The Rams, who have won four straight CAA games. jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning against senior righthander Nate Curd of Towson. With one out, senior second baseman Richard Gonzalez started the rally when he singled up the middle. Senior shortstop Doug Otto followed with a single to right, moving Gonzalez into scoring position. When Curd threw a wild pitch, both runners moved into scoring position.
Junior third baseman Joe Van Meter gave VCU a 1-0 lead when he bounced a single through the left side as Gonzalez scored and Otto moved to third base. Junior rightfielder John Lenherr increased the lead to 2-0 when he hit a sacrifice fly to rightfield. Curd pitched out of the inning when he retired sophomore first baseman Brent Mikionis on a fly ball to centerfield.
VCU added an unearned run in the second inning with a two-out rally. After Curd retired the first two hitters, junior designated hitter Michael Cheatham singled to right field. Cheatham moved into scoring position when he stole second base. It appeared that Curd would escape the jam when senior centerfielder M.L. Morgan hit a ground ball to second baseman Chris Wychock. When Wychock bobbled the ball, Morgan reached first base on an error. Cheatham never stopped running from second base and scored ahead of a throw by junior first baseman Eric Weller. When Weller's throw got away from catcher Andrew Parker, Morgan advanced to second base. Gonzalez followed with a single to left and Morgan tried to score from second base. But freshman leftfielder Kurt Wertz made a perfect throw to home plate as Morgan was out by a wide margin.
In the third inning, the Rams erupted for three more runs and knocked Curd out of the game. Otto opened the inning with a single to centerfield. Van Meter followed with a double to right, a shot that was just beyond the grasp of senior rightfielder Kevin Collins. With runners on second and third and no outs, Lenherr drilled a single to centerfield, driving in two runs to give VCU a 5-0 lead. When Curd hit Mikionis with a pitch, the Rams had two runners on base with no outs.
Freshman righthander Mike Bronakoski was summoned from the bullpen to relieve Curd. After giving up an RBI single to sophomore leftfielder Paul Nice, Bronakoski pitched out of the jam by retiring the next three hitters in a row. He finished the inning by striking out Morgan with runners on first and third base.
Haynes shut out the Tigers on one hit through three innings and took a 6-0 lead into the bottom of the fourth inning. Collins and Wychock led off the inning with back-to-back singles to left field. After Wertz grounded into a force play for the first out, junior third baseman Austin Harclerode lined an RBI single to centerfield, scoring Collins to cut the Rams' lead to 6-1 lead. However, Haynes pitched out of the jam by retiring junior designated hitter Steve Rice and Weller on fly balls to the outfield.
When the Tigers scored in the fourth inning, it ended VCU's string of 23.1 consecutive innings of shutout ball against CAA competition.
The Rams extended their lead to 7-1 in the fifth inning. With one out, Mikionis beat out an infield single to shortstop. Nice followed with a double to left centerfield, scoring Mikionis for a 7-1 advantage. However, Nice was thrown out at third base trying to stretch his hit into a triple.
Trailing by 7-1 in the last of the seventh inning, the Tigers staged a rally against Haynes. Weller led off the inning with a double to right center before Parker struck out. Sophomore centerfielder Ben Winter followed with a single through the right side as Weller advanced to third base. Junior shortstop Nick Natoli cut the Rams' lead to 7-2 when he lined an RBI single to right field. With runners on first and second and one out, Haynes made a big pitch to retire Collins on a popup to third base. But Haynes hit Wychock with a pitch to load the bases with two outs. However, Haynes stranded all three runners when he got Wertz to hit a fly ball to Morgan in centerfield.
In the bottom of the eighth inning, junior righthander Jonathan Watson relieved Haynes on the mound for VCU. Harclerode drew a walk to lead off the inning. With one out, Weller reached base with a bunt single to give the Tigers two runners on base with one out. Watson came back to strike out pinch hitter Brian Wyman for the second out. Winter came through with a two-run double off the left field fence to pull the Tigers to within 7-4.
After Winter's double, Andrews was summoned from the bullpen. After falling behind in the count to Natoli, he got Natoli to hit a sharp ground ball to third base where Van Meter made a tough play and threw him out at first base to end the threat.
In the bottom of the ninth inning, Andrews nailed down the victory by retiring the Tigers with one hit. After Collins grounded out to second base, Wychock singled to left field. But, Andrews set down Wertz on a fly ball to right before striking out Harclerode to end the game.
The Rams, who outhit Towson by a 13-10 margin, were led by Van Meter who had three hits and drove in one run. Nice had two hits and two runs batted in while Lenherr drove in three runs. Gonzalez and Otto each had two hits in the game.
After the Rams scored six runs on eight hits off Curd, they were shut down by the Tiger bullpen. Bronakoski pitched six innings and allowed one run on five hits. He only issued one walk and had six strikeouts. Junior righthander Drew Permison pitched a perfect ninth inning for the Tigers.
Winter led the Tigers with two hits and two RBI's while Wychock also had a pair of hits. Wychock was also hit by a pitch twice and reached base four times. Weller added two hits and scored two runs.
However, the Tigers didn't capitalize on its scoring opportunities and left 11 runners on base.
"We just fell behind by too many runs early in the game," said Towson Coach Mike Gottlieb. "I was pleased with the way Mike (Bronakoski) came in and shut them down. He gave us a great chance to try and come back. But, it didn't work out for us."
VCU will be seeking to sweep the three-game series when Towson and VCU close out their series at Schuerholz Park on Sunday afternoon at 1:00 p.m.
