April 7, 2002
NORFOLK, VA. - Virginia Commonwealth rallied for four runs inthe seventh inning and one in the eighth then held off an Old Dominion rally in the bottom of the ninth for a 6-5 Colonial Athletic Association victory Sunday afternoon. ODU is now 14-15 overall and 1-4 in the CAA, while the Rams are 22-12 overall and5-1 in the CAA.
After the Rams took a , 1-0 lead in the top of the first on a sacrifice fly byNick Jones which scored Joe Jackson, ODU tied the game in the second on Jesse Schoendienst' (Belcamp, MD.) single which scored Kevin Snapp (orba Linda, CA.). In the third, Ryan Harvey (Riverside, CA.) slammed a homerun to left centerfield, giving the Monarchs a 2-1 lead. In the fifth, Snapp's sacrifice fly scored Brent Sollenberger (Chambersburg, PA.) and the Monarchs led 3-1 going into the seventh inning.
Nick Jones led off the seventh with a triple off ODU freshman James Burok(Archbald, Pa.), VCU's first hit since the first inning. He scored when Bryan Gillespie reached on an ODU error. Jeff Parrish then tied the game at three with an rbi single, scoring Gillespie. Matt Davis then singled home Justin Mattison to give the Rams the lead at 4-3 and Jackson's sacrifice fly scored Parrish to make it 5-3. VCU added another run in the eighth when Rigo Orozco singled home Nick Jones to make it 6-3.
In the bottom of the ninth Brian Marshall walked the bases loaded. Pinchhitter Evan Chipman reached on a fielders choice, scoring Brent Sollenberger and Joe Moore's groundout scored Allen Strick to cut the lead to 6-5, but Marshall got thefinal out on a groundout and his second win in relief for the series.
ODU hosts 22nd ranked Richmond on Tuesday at 5 p.m. VCU travels to Wake Forest for a 3 p.m. game on Tuesday.
LINESCORE
VCU 100 000 410=6-9-1
ODU 011 010 002=5-8-1
VCU Battery: Bo Acors, Brian Marshall(4) and Jeff ParrishODU Battery: James Burok, Jonathan Tinkham(7) and John Oehler
WP: Marshall(4-0) LP: Burok 3-3HR: ODU- Harvey (solo in third)