March 8, 2009

RICHMOND, Va. – Head Coach Paul Keyes has spent the last 14-plus seasons taking the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball program to new heights.

On Sunday afternoon, the Rams returned the favor picking up a doubleheader sweep of Fordham University, 11-9 and 5-3, and helping Keyes earn his 500th career victory.

“It’s something that I will always cherish,” Keyes said. “The accomplishment is really the testament of so many people that have put in countless hours of dedication to this program. From Ed Allen to Lou Martin to Bill Bailey and then Tony Guzzo, each coach that has ever put on the VCU uniform is a part of this.”

The victory is the seventh in the past eight games for the Black & Gold, improving its overall mark to 8-3 on the year, while Fordham falls to 1-9.

”We continue to hit the ball and put some runs on the board, which is always good,” Keyes said. “We have gotten several different great efforts on the mound and today was no different with [Ryan] Crosby. Hopefully, over the course of the season we can get those efforts on a consistent basis.”

Fordham would get the scoring started early with a leadoff triple by Danny Leach, followed by a sacrifice fly by Alex Kenny to give the visitors a 1-0 lead.

VCU capitalized on a Fordham miscue to grab the lead in the bottom of the first. Junior Doug Otto (Jefferson City, Mo.) drew a two-out walk and freshman Taylor Perkins (Dinwiddie, Va.) moved him to third with a single up the middle. Redshirt sophomore Joe Van Meter (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) (left) evened the score by smoking an RBI double down the left field line to score Otto.

After Michael Cheatham (Chesterfield, Va.) walked to load the bases, Fordham catcher Ryan David dropped a third strike to Nate Furry (Salem, Va.) which allowed Perkins to scamper home and the bases to remain loaded for sophomore Ryan Caldwell (Charlottesville, Va.). Caldwell followed by roping a two-RBI single into right field to give the Black & Gold a 4-1 lead after one inning.

A one-out walk to Brian Kownacki resulted in another Fordham run as the shortstop stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. Leach then brought him home with a sacrifice fly to left field to get Fordham within two at 4-2.

Van Meter would get things going again in the bottom of the third with a single through the left side of the infield. After a steal and a groundout, Van Meter moved to third and came home on an RBI single from Furry to push the advantage back to three at 5-2.  

The speed of junior Andrew Dimino (Greenwood, Ind.) would lead to a VCU run in the bottom of the fourth. Dimino drew a leadoff walk and stole second, but the throw from David went through to centerfield allowing Dimino to hustle to third. Otto drove him in one batter later with an RBI groundout as the Black & Gold lead grew to 6-2.

Fordham capitalized on a Rams’ miscue in the top of the sixth when Kownacki reached on an infield single and moved to second on an errant pickoff attempt. After a fly out moved Kownacki to third, Bobby DiNardo delivered an RBI single to bring Fordham back within three at 6-3.

Stephen McSherry kept the Fordham offense going in the top of the seventh with a lead off double and later came around to score on an RBI single from Mike Mobbs. A single and a walk later, the visitors had the bases loaded with one out. A fielder’s choice scored one run and another VCU error capped off the three-run seventh inning as Fordham pulled even with the Black & Gold at 6-6.

Mobbs and Ryan Maghini each posted an RBI single and two wild pitches resulted in another three-run inning for Fordham as the visitors grabbed their first lead of the weekend at 9-6.

Senior Justin Wright (Yorktown, Va.) didn’t allow Fordham to get comfortable with the lead as he smashed a single through the right side of the infield to spark a VCU rally. Junior Matt Leskiw (Plains, Pa.) drew a walk and both runners moved up a base after a groundout. Wright would slide in just under the tag on a fielder’s choice by Dimino to bring the Rams within two at 9-7.

With runners on first and third, senior Carlos Rodriguez (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) (right) deposited his second home run of the season over the left field wall to reclaim the lead for the Black & Gold at 10-9. Senior R.J. Schenk (Yorktown, Va.) scored on a wild pitch three batters later to cap off the five-run frame for the Rams.

”It’s never good to give up the lead the way we did,” Keyes said. “But it shows a lot about this team that we can bounce back right away the way we did. Since the preseason I’ve been saying that we are going to need our seniors to step up. Carlos did that once again today with a huge home run.”

Junior right-hander Robbie Andrews (Covington, Va.) came out of the bullpen to lock down the victory with a perfect ninth inning for his first save of the year.

After a tough loss in game one, Fordham bounced right back to grab an early 2-0 lead in the second game thanks to Bobby DiNardo who chipped in an RBI single in the first and his fourth home run of the year in the top of the fourth.

Like they have all year long, the Rams climbed back on top in the home half of the fourth when Otto picked up a one-out single and moved to third on a Fordham error. Van Meter and Rodriguez would connect on RBI singles to tie the game and Leskiw gave VCU its first lead, 3-2, of the second game with an RBI double into left centerfield.

Van Meter continued to be the guy that Fordham did not want to see at the plate with two more RBIs in the bottom of the fifth to help the Black & Gold extend its lead to 5-2.

Freshman Ryan Crosby (Broad Run, Va.) took over from there holding Fordham to just three hits over the next three frames, including a solo shot to Chris Walker in the top of the eighth.

Just as he did in the first game, Andrews came out of the bullpen to toss a 1-2-3 ninth inning for his second save and the series sweep for the Black & Gold.

Offensively, Van Meter was the story for the Rams, going 6-for-9 with three runs scored and four RBIs on the afternoon. Leskiw added three hits, while Alford, Caldwell, Furry and Rodriguez each chipped in two hits apiece.

“Joey has been our most consistent hitter all year long and he showed it today with six hits,” Keyes said. “We tried to mix up the order in the first game because of their left-hander and it was great to see guys like Caldwell and Furry have big games for us.”

On the mound, Crosby (2-0) was stellar with eight innings of work, allowing just six hits and three runs. Redshirt sophomore Aaron Morgan (2-0) picked up the win in game one with 1.2 innings of relief work.

“Crosby shows a maturity that most freshmen don’t have,” Keyes said. “He gave up a couple of home runs, but he didn’t let that affect him and continued to throw strikes and keep the ball on the ground.”

Andrews (left) was outstanding out of the bullpen, tossing two perfect innings, tallying three strikeouts and two saves.

“We’ve been looking for a guy that will fill into the closer’s role this year and it looked like that’s what Robbie had on his mind today,” Keyes said. “He came in and did exactly what we want out of him.”

VCU will be back in action for its first mid-week contest of the year as the Pirates of Seton Hall University visit The Diamond for a 2 p.m. match-up.