May 8, 2009

THOMAS TOSSES COMPLETE GAME, BUT RAMS FALL IN HEARTBREAKER TO OLD DOMINION, 2-1

RICHMOND, Va. – For the fifth straight Friday, senior Ian Thomas (Virginia Beach, Va.) took the mound and delivered a masterful performance.

For the second straight Friday, the Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team was on the wrong end of a pitcher’s duel, this time it was a 2-1 heartbreaking loss at the hands of Brett Harris and the Monarchs of Old Dominion on Friday night at The Diamond.

The loss is the sixth straight for the Black & Gold who fall to 19-21 overall and 7-12 in the Colonial Athletic Association, while the Monarchs improve to 19-22 and 11-8 in conference play.

“This is really the sixth straight time we’ve played this type of game,” Head Coach Paul Keyes said. “We’ve gotten plenty of chances over the past two to three weeks to put teams away early and we haven’t capitalized. That’s how you end up where we’re sitting.”

VCU would jump all over Harris to start the game with three straight singles from Andrew Dimino (Greenwood, Ind.), M.L. Morgan (Petersburg, Va.) and Doug Otto (Jefferson City, Mo.). A double play and a fly out ended the inning with only one Ram run crossing the plate.

“That first inning was big for both teams,” Keyes said. “We had a base running mistake in the first inning on a ball that was down. We should’ve have been sitting with a 2-0 lead after one, which I think would have set a different tone for the entire game.”

It was the Harris and Thomas show after that with both hurlers holding the offenses to a combined two hits over the next four complete innings of play.

Singles by Max Most and Gerard Hall would ignite the ODU offense with one out in the top of the sixth. Thomas would seemingly get out of the jam with a ground out and a fly out, but the ball was misplayed costing the Rams two runs and giving the Monarchs a 2-1 advantage.

Harris would be on cruise control until the top of the ninth when the Black & Gold strung a rally together.

Redshirt sophomore Joe Van Meter (Oyster Bay, N.Y.) and senior Justin Wright (Yorktown, Va.) banged out back-to-back singles to start the frame and a throw to third was late on a sac bunt attempt by senior Carlos Rodriguez (Vega Baja, Puerto Rico) to load the bases with no outs.

However, a shallow fly to left field and a double play would extinguish the VCU rally and give ODU a crucial 2-1 victory.

Both hurlers tossed complete game with Harris’ registering his league-leading fifth of the year, while Thomas picked up his second in three outings.

Thomas (4-4) was saddled with a tough loss, giving up no earned runs and just six hits in nine innings of work. Harris (6-3) collected the win with just one earned run and seven hits. Both pitchers notched five strikeouts.

“Ian was outstanding once again,” Keyes said. “He’s been the one guy on this team that we’ve been able to rely on, especially over the last four or five weeks. He’s going to go out every Friday and give you a chance to win.”

Offensively, Van Meter and Wright each had two hits apiece, while Dimino scored the lone run on the evening for the Rams.