VCU Rams

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Third-seeded VCU returns to the CAA Tournament today for the first time since 2007 and faces No. 2 Georgia State in the opening round at 3 p.m.  This weekend, VCU will look for its fifth CAA title in its last seven trips to the event and 10th NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.  The Rams have qualified for the CAA Tournament in 13 of the past 15 seasons since joining the league in 1996.

VCU will send sophomore Seth Cutler-Voltz (2010 All-CAA Second Team) to the hill as  the Rams and Panthers square off for the fourth time this season.  Georgia State handed VCU its first conference series loss of the year April 23-25.  Despite their 11-1 start to conference play, the Rams have struggled against the trio of CAA Tournament teams this season, finishing 2-6-1 against top-seeded James Madison, Georgia State and No. 4 seed/host UNC Wilmington.

VCU-JMU LIVE BLOG

When Jake Taylor found out that Cleveland Indians’ owner Rachel Phelps was going to break up the team and move the franchise to Miami in the movie Major League, he declared that there was only one thing left to do: “Win the whole ****** thing.”

VCU isn’t under that kind of pressure. The Rams won’t be moving to Raleigh at the end of the year, but this is a special opportunity. VCU was picked to finish seventh in the the CAA preseason poll, and for good reason. The Rams were coming off two sub-par seasons and had a roster full of young, unproven players.

However, as the season progressed, this group of unknown quantities has coalesced into a winner. The Rams jumped out to an 11-1 record in the CAA and have held firm ever since behind the other-worldly hitting of junior Joe Van Meter and a pitching staff led by sophomore Seth Cutler-Voltz.

Today, VCU has an opportunity to lock down an unlikely regular season crown, as well as the No. 1 seed in the upcoming CAA Tournament. VCU and James Madison lock horns at 4 p.m. at The Diamond.

VCU-RICHMOND LIVE BLOG

With basketball season finally out of the way, we can all focus on personally willing the VCU Baseball team to greatness. That is how it’s done, correct?

Tonight it’s VCU against Richmond in a Capital City showdown at The Diamond at 7 p.m. This game has an extra wrinkle thrown into the mix. With the Richmond Flying Squirrels’ season roughly 10 days away, this game will take on the look and feel of a minor league baseball game. The Squirrels’ staff will be running the show and we’ll see Squirrel promotions and, presumably, Nutzy, the Flying Squirrels’ mascot.

Nutzy is a fine mascot, no offense to him or his airborne family, but I can’t help but think about what could have been. Ever since the team announced it would carry the Flying Squirrels moniker, I couldn’t help but think about how great it would be if they could use Rocky from the old Rocky and Bullwinkle cartoons (we won’t even mention the travesty of a Rocky and Bullwinkle movie they released a while back). I’m not even sure who owns the rights anymore. It may still be General Mills, but I’m not sure anymore. Either way, I’m sure any company that retained the rights would ask for a sum greater than the value of the franchise to use the Rocky logo. Ah well, a boy can dream. To the game…

VCU is 15-13 and, more importantly, 5-1 in the CAA after taking two of three from William & Mary over the weekend. This is non-conference action, but it’s always nice to sharpen the pitching staff and get some hitters going with a weekday game like this.

Starting pitchers
VCU: Michael Graham, LHP, 3-3, 7.39 ERA. Graham has been better of late, allowing four earned runs in his last 10 innings.

Richmond: Brian Farrell, LHP, 0-1, 10.12 ERA. This will be Farrell’s first start of the year. He has allowed nine earned runs in eight innings this season.

6:05 p.m. : Gonzalez sacrifices Fujii to second and the Rams are in business with a runner in scoring position with one out.

6:03 p.m. : We’re underway from Maryland as Fujii hustles down the line and beats out a throw from shortstop Alfredo Rodriguez… he’s on with a leadoff single

5:59 p.m. : Please forgive me as I type in tonight’s starters… Maryland has quite the setup here with an open press box…. combine that with 20 mph winds and 46 degree temps and we have ourselves some interesting weather conditions… we haven’t even thrown the first pitch yet and my fingers are completely numb!

For Maryland…
SS - Alfredo Rodriguez (.281, 16 RBI)
RF - Jon Wilson (.182, 2 RBI)
LF - Brandon Padula (.482, 18 RBI)
CF - Matt Marquis (.256, 12 RBI)
2B - David Poutier (.221, 5 RBI)
1B - Dan Gentzler (.286, 7 RBI)
DH - Mike Rozak (.257, 4 RBI)
3B - Zachary Fisher (.455, 0 RBI)
C - Jack Cleary (.242, 9 RBI)
And on the mound for the Terrapins LHP Adam Kolarek (1-2, 5.57 ERA, 19 K’s in 20.1 innings)

For VCU…
CF - Greg Fujii (.259, 2 RBI)
2B - Richard Gonzalez (.366, 16 RBI)
SS - Doug Otto (.279, 18 RBI)
3B - Joe Van Meter (.333, 15 RBI)
1B - Brent Mikionis (.377, 14 RBI)
LF - Paul Nice (.354, 9 RBI)
RF - John Lenherr (.291, 14 RBI)
DH - Nick Kime (.250, 3 RBI)
C - Nate Furry (.048, 0 RBI)
And on the bump for the Black & Gold is freshman RHP Kyle Haynes (1-1, 3.63 ERA, 16 K’s in 17.1 IP)