Bronx, N.Y. – (May 11, 2024) – VCU's Brandon Eike singled home William Bean in the ninth inning, while Owen Tappy pitched a scoreless ninth inning, as the VCU Rams downed the Fordham Rams, 4-3, on Senior Day at Houlihan Park on Saturday.
After VCU scored first on a bases loaded hit by pitch, Fordham answered with two runs in the third inning.
Carson Chavez led off with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Chris Genaro.
Daniel Bucciero followed with a two-run home run to center, his team-leading eighth of the season.
VCU (30-20, 12-7 A10) regained the lead in the fifth inning, scoring twice for a 3-2 lead, getting runs on an error and a sacrifice fly.
Fordham (19-29, 10-10 A10) then tied the game at three in the bottom of the sixth inning. With two outs and
Ryan Thiesse at second,
Madden Ocko singled to right field, allowing Thiesse to slide in safely just ahead of the tag to tie the game.
The score stayed tied at three until the ninth when two outs and two on, Brandon Eike singled up the middle to score William Bean from second for a 4-3 lead.
Owen Tappy came on to close out the win with a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his fourth save of the year.
Aric Berg (5-6) took the loss for Fordham in relief of
Aidan Dowd and
Robbie Stewart. Dowd threw the first four innings, allowing one earned run over four innings with six strikeouts, while Stewart tossed four innings of one-hit relief with three strikeouts. At the plate, Bucciero was 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, and two RBI to lead the Fordham offense.
The final game of the series is set for noon on Sunday.
Gallery: (5-11-2024) Baseball vs VCU
