VCU lost to Richmond by a score of 2-1 in an Atlantic 10 baseball game at The Diamond on April 24. Both teams now hold identical conference records of 11-8, with VCU’s overall record standing at 22-19 and Richmond’s at 24-18.
The contest was marked by strong pitching from both sides, as neither team managed more than a single run after the second inning. Jacob Lee hit his eleventh home run of the season for VCU, tying Brandon Inge for sixth place all-time in career home runs for the program with twenty-eight. Lee finished the day going two-for-two with two extra-base hits.
Dante DeFranco contributed a double to lead off the weekend series, while Alec Warden recorded another hit for the Rams. Out of the bullpen, Cooper Campbell and Dawson Newman combined for four scoreless innings. Newman closed out the game by retiring all four batters he faced over one and one-third perfect innings.
Richmond scored early, notching a solo home run in the first inning and adding a run-scoring double in the second to take an early lead. VCU starter Elias Holbert settled down after those initial frames before turning things over to Campbell and Newman, who kept Richmond off the scoreboard through the remainder of play. Despite drawing seven walks and getting runners on base throughout, VCU was unable to capitalize until Lee’s eighth-inning homer narrowed Richmond’s lead.
Both teams stranded eight runners each during what became VCU’s fourth loss by two or fewer runs in their last five games. With this result, Richmond pulled even with VCU in Atlantic 10 standings.
Looking ahead, VCU will try to even up its three-game series against Richmond when they meet again at Pitt Field on Saturday afternoon.
