Baseball matches seasonhigh for runs in rout of VMI

David Moffatt Staff Writer

After two scoreless innings, VMI catcher Matt Winn connected ferociously with a pitch and watched it soar into left field. That ball would not come back. The VCU baseball team, however, would; the Rams scored 18 unanswered runs, winning the game 18-1 on Tuesday evening.

After Winn's solo shot, senior Seth Cutler-Voltz would calmly dismiss the next two batters to close the inning, punctuating the sequence by striking out Keydet senior first baseman George Piccirilli. The home run was the only earned run he would allow in six innings.

The Rams' bats didn't wait long to retaliate. Their run began in the bottom of the third inning when sophomore Bill Cullen hit a worm-burner to left field, earning a single. Second baseman Jordan Weymouth followed by connecting with a pitch that forced an error, one of five committed on the night by the Keydets. In succession, first baseman Brent Mikionis would put the ball into play and bring in two runs.

The Rams would go on to score 16 more unanswered runs, eight coming in the fifth inning alone. Cullen was the star of the night, the top highlight being his line-drive to center field that would turn into an inside-the-park home run, his first homer on the season. He finished the game leading the Rams in practically every major category; he had five hits in six at-bats, scored four runs and drove in five. Cullen was just a triple away from hitting for the cycle.

The VCU squad was coming off a disappointing three-game series against conference rivals George Mason, in which they were swept at home. They certainly did not need any more added motivation to come out and give a strong showing against a struggling VMI team. That being said, the players on the team will tell you that playing an in-state opponent like VMI raises the stakes.

"It's a bunch of guys that we used to play with. ... We've been playing with them since we were little kids," Cullen said when asked about the pre-game motivation for the team.

"It's about us," said VCU associate head coach Shawn Stiffler, commenting on how his team overcame the adversity of the Mason sweep to hand the Keydets their worst loss of the season. "The biggest thing we did tonight was that we competed for every at-bat. We didn't take a single at-bat off."

It was certainly an all-around effort for the Rams; five players finished with multiple hits, four players had multiple RBIs, and the team as a whole did not commit a single defensive error.

While the layman might be drawn to the gaudy run total, the pitching staff put forward a great performance as well. Cutler-Voltz earned his third win on the season, dismissing 18 batters on 95 pitches, totaling an impressive 10 strikeouts. Redshirt sophomore Seth Greene also impressed in a relief role, striking out the side in the eighth inning to set up Chris Shaklee to close.

The Rams (18-15) go on the road this weekend to face the Blue Hens of Delaware (17-16). The Hens are three games ahead in the conference standings, and VCU would love to put a dent in that lead. CT