RICHMOND, Va. – Virginia Commonwealth University baseball head coach Paul Keyes saw just how tough his 2009 squad can be in the face of adversity on Saturday afternoon at The Diamond.

After dealing with schedule changes and a rain soaked afternoon, the Rams battled back from 10 down to earn a 12-11 victory in game two of a doubleheader to earn a split on the day and a series win over the Blackbirds of Long Island University. LIU picked up its only win of the weekend in game one, 4-3.

“It wasn’t exactly the prettiest of days as far as quality baseball, but it was good to see our kids have some fight in them,” Keyes said. “We saw some good things from guys like Otto and Perkins stepping up when called upon, but we also saw a lot of things we need work on.”

With the win in game two, the Black & Gold improve to 5-3 on the year; while Long Island ends it season-opening weekend at 1-3. Keyes now sits just two wins away from entering the elite 500-wins club.

In game two, Frank Dimasi collected a RBI groundout and Anthony Amatucci blasted a solo homerun to jump start the Blackbirds offense to a 2-0 before VCU even came to bat.

Freshman Josh Alford (Midlothian, Va.) would get the Rams on the board as he smacked a RBI single through the left side of the infield to plate junior Matt Leskiw (Plains, Pa.) and bring VCU within one at 2-1.

Three walks, two errors and two hit by pitches ignited a never-ending inning for Long Island as the Blackbirds post nine runs, all unearned in the top of the fourth to gain a sizeable 11-1 margin.

The Black & Gold would not go away with Leskiw and classmate Nate Furry (Salem, Va.) notching RBI singles and Andrew Dimino (Greenwood, Ind.) with an RBI groundout to give VCU a three-run bottom of the fourth.

Junior Doug Otto (Jefferson City, Mo.) (left) started the Rams’ big fifth inning with a single into left field. Pinch hitter Taylor Perkins (Dinwiddie, Va.) drew a walk and sophomore Joe Van Meter (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) brought Otto home with a RBI single into left field.

After senior Justin Wright (Yorktown, Va.) walked to load the bases, Leskiw picked up an RBI with a walk and classmate Richard Gonzalez (Caguas, Puerto Rico) was hit by a pitch to bring home another run. Dimino plated Wright with a fielder’s choice and Leskiw came around to score when LIU’s shortstop bobbled a grounder by Alford as VCU got within two at 11-9.

After Otto drew a walk to load the bases again, Perkins, a freshman, launched a 1-0 shot off the centerfield wall for a bases-clearing triple, giving the Black & Gold its first lead of the game at 12-11.

Freshman Seth Cutler-Voltz (Richmond, Va.) locked in on the mound, allowing just one hit over the final 2.2 innings of work to preserve the victory and earn the doubleheader split for the Rams.

”To have two freshman come in and give us the spark that both of them did tells you just how deep our team is,” Keyes said. “Taylor had been killing the ball in batting practice and we felt like that was a great spot to use him and Seth came in to lock it down after our big inning.”

Game one was a pitcher’s duel with junior Phillip Deane (Richmond, Va.) (right) locking horns with LIU’s Julian Diaz.

Neither offense would get anything going until the fourth when Otto smacked a double down the left field line and came around to score when senior R.J. Schenk (Yorktown, Va.) scorched a single into left field.

Schenk stole second and moved to third on a wild pitch. His good baserunning continued when he barreled home when the Blackbirds’ catcher threw to first on a dropped third strike to give the Rams a 2-0 after four innings of play.

A two-run error in the top of the sixth were the only runs that Deane would give up as LIU evened the score at 2-2.

Back-to-back doubles by Schenk and Van Meter plated a VCU run in the bottom of sixth to reclaim the lead at 3-2.

RBI singles by Gerard Tingos and Chris Kievit in the top of the eighth gave the Blackbirds their only lead of the contest at 4-3.

Tingos would then step onto the mound to pitch a 1-2-3 bottom of the ninth to lock down the Long Island victory in game one.

Otto and Van Meter combined for nine of VCU’s 18 hits on the afternoon, while also tallying five runs, three doubles and two RBIs.

Cutler-Voltz (1-0) picked up his first collegiate win with 2.2 solid innings of relief in game two, while Diaz (1-0) picked up the win in game one with 7.2 innings of work.

Deane was outstanding in his game one start, allowing just one earned run and four hits in six innings for the Black & Gold.

“We definitely had some bright spots on the mound today with Seth and Phillip, but in all we have to do a better job of not giving up free passes. We gave up nine walks and three hit batsmen, we can’t continue to do that and expect to win,” Keyes said.

The Rams are back in action as they play their first mid-week contest of the year with 3 p.m. showdown at The Diamond with the Flames of Liberty University.