Baseball Drops Opener at VCU, 7-2

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VCU's Walker Haymaker reached base four times and scored twice, while JoJo Howie allowed two runs over six innings of work, as the VCU Rams topped the Fordham Rams, 7-2, at The Diamond in Richmond, Virginia.
 
With the loss, Fordham goes to 21-26 on the year, 12-7 in the Atlantic 10, while VCU improved to 27-22 on the year, 9-10 in the league.
 
Fordham got off to a good start in the second inning with the first run of the game.  Charles Galiano connected on a one-out double to left center and scored on an RBI-double down the left field line by Joseph DeVito.
 
VCU knotted the game at one in the third as they loaded the bases with one out and got a sacrifice fly by Vimael Machin.
 
VCU then grabbed a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, picking up runs on an RBI-double by Matt Davis and Machin's second sacrifice fly of the game.
 
Fordham got one of those runs back in the sixth, when Matthew Kozuch blasted a solo home run to left, his third of the season, to make it, 3-2.
 
VCU extended their lead to 6-2 with a three-run sixth inning, highlighted by an RBI-double by Logan Farrar and an RBI-single from Walker Haymaker.
 
Fordham had chances in both the seventh and eighth innings to close the gap, but were unable to scoreagainst VCU reliever Dan Concepcion.  In the seventh inning, with runners at first and second and one out, Jason Lundy lined into a 9-3 double play to end that threat.
 
The eighth inning saw Fordham load the bases with one out on singles by Joseph Runco and Mark Donadio and a walk to Kozuch.  Concepcion worked his way out of the jam with strikeouts of Galiano and DeVito to keep it a 6-2 game.
 
VCU scored once in the bottom of the eighth to close out the scoring.
 
VCU starting pitcher JoJo Howie earned his fifth win of the year, allowing two runs on five hits with five strikeouts, while Concepcion recorded his tenth save of the year with three scoreless innings of relief with four strikeouts.
 
Fordham starter Greg Weissert (5-5) took the loss, allowing five earned runs on eight hits over 5.1 innings of work.  Kirk Haynes, Jr. tossed 1.2 innings of one-hit relief, while David Manasek threw the eighth inning.
 
At the plate, Galiano was 2-for-4 with a double and a run scored, while McNally had a pair of hits and a stolen base.
 
The same two teams will match up on Saturday for game two, beginning at 11:00 AM.