March 15, 2002
Final Stats
RICHMOND, VA- Virginia Commonwealth senior center fielder Matt Davis singled home junior right fielder Justin Mattison with the winning run in the bottom of the 11th inning as Virginia Commonwealth defeated Marist 4-3 Friday night at The Diamond.
The Rams improved to 12-10 on the season and won for the fifth time in their last six games. The Red Foxes fell to 5-5 overall after dropping the opener of the three-game series between their fellow 2001 NCAA tournament participants.
Mattison reached on an error to begin the bottom of the 11th and advanced to third two batters later when Marist third baseman Tim Allen threw wildly to second on a ball hit by senior second baseman Chris Gerrity. Davis then delivered a grounder in the right-side hole to end the game.
Sophomore Matt Prendergast picked up the win after tossing 2 2/3 scoreless innings of relief. The righthander allowed just one hit to improve to 2-2 for the year. Kevin Ool (1-2) took the loss for the Red Foxes.
Marist opened the scoring with three runs off Rams' senior starter Bo Acors in the top of the third. Junior first baseman John McGorty began the frame with a base hit and the Red Foxes loaded the bases on a single by senior second baseman Jimmy Willis and a walk to shortstop Steve O'Sullivan. Junior left fielder Joey Salazar followed with a sacrifice fly for the game's first run and classmate Mike Sidoti brought home Willis with a groundout for a 2-0 Marist lead. O'Sullivan made it a three-run cushion after crossing the plate on a Rams' error.
VCU tied the game with a three-run fourth off sophomore Chris Tracz. Junior first baseman Danny Lopaze started the rally with a leadoff single and moved to third on a base hit by sophomore third baseman Nick Jones. After a walk to junior Rigo Orozco loaded the sacks, Mattison hit a fielder's choice grounder which Willis overthrew the first base bag to allow two runs to come home. Freshman catcher Jeff Parrish then smacked a single up the middle to knot the score at 3-3.
Both teams failed on good opportunites to score late in the game. O'Sullivan led off the top of the seventh for Marist with a double and took third on a Salazar sacrifice, but Rams' sophomore Brian Marshall struck out consecutive batters upon entering the game to end the threat. In the bottom of the inning, Davis reached on a fielder's choice and stole two bases to get to third with just one out, but Tracz retired junior shortstop Jose Pabon and Lopaze to get out of the jam.
Acors allowed just five hits and two earned runs over 6 1/3 innings for VCU, while Tracz scattered six hits and two earned runs in seven innings of work.
The two teams will meet again tommorow afternoon in a 2 p.m. start.
