March 16, 2002
Final Stats
RICHMOND, VA - Sophomore third baseman Nick Jones drove in a pair of runs, including the go-ahead score in the bottom of the seventh inning as Virginia Commonwealth earned a 5-4 victory over Marist Saturday afternoon at The Diamond.
With the game tied at 4-4, junior shortstop Jose Pabon greeted Red Foxes' reliever Kevin Shurtleff (0-1) with a double off the left field wall to start the bottom of the eighth and took third on a base hit by junior first baseman Danny Lopaze (Lakeridge, Va./Potomac). Jones then brought Pabon home with a sacrifice fly to give the Rams the lead and freshman righthander Cla Meredith made it stick by retiring Marist in order over the final three innings.
Meredith (2-1) allowed just two hits and one run in four frames of relief as VCU (13-10) took its second straight one-run decision in its three-game series with the Red Foxes. The Rams defeated Marist (5-6) 4-3 in 11 innings on Friday.
Sophomore lefthander Sean Marshall and Marist starter Chuck Bechtel each held the opposition scoreless in the first three innings before VCU broke out with three runs in the fourth. Junior Rigo Orozco singled with one out and Bechtel walked freshman catcher Jeff Parrish and senior second baseman Chris Gerrity to load the bases. Senior center fielder Matt Davis then smacked a two-out single to score Orozco, with Parrish and Gerrity also coming home when the ball slipped past Red Foxes' left fielder Joey Salazar.
Marist countered in the top of the fifth when a hit batsmen and bunt singles by senior second baseman Jimmy Willis and shortstop Steve O'Sullivan loaded the sacks with none out. A passed ball plated junior first baseman John McGorty with the Foxes' first run and Willis scored on a double-play grounder off the bat of senior right fielder Anthony Bocchino to cut VCU's lead to 3-2.
Jones extended his hitting streak to 17 games with a solo home run off Brad Cook in the bottom of the fifth to extend the Rams' cushion to two runs, but the Red Foxes got a pair of RBI doubles from junior third baseman Tim Allen and Willis in the sixth to tie the game at 4-4.
Davis and Pabon each collected two hits for VCU in the win, while Allen and Willis each finished two-for-four with an RBI for Marist on the afternoon.
The two teams wrap up their weekend set tomorrow afternoon in a 1 p.m. start.
