NEWS
Baseball Holds Off VCU 14-10, Wins Series
Jacob Friend got all of this one for a 2-run homer.
DAVIDSON — Davidson utilized early shutdown pitching and a nine-run eighth inning to get a 14-10 victory and complete the series win against VCU Saturday afternoon.
The Wildcats improved to 26-19 overall and 12-5 in the Atlantic 10, while VCU (23-25) fell to 9-9 in league play.
Entering Sunday’s league games, Davidson is alone at the top of the A-10 standings, with Saint Louis and Saint Joseph’s both 11-6 and Dayton 10-7.
Davidson led 5-4 entering the bottom of the eighth, then scored nine runs on four hits, an error, two walks and two hit batsmen. The highlights — all to right field — were Henry Koehler’s two-RBI double, Tyler Douglas’ three-run double and Jacob Friend’s two-run home run, which made it 14-4.
VCU threatened in the ninth, closing the 10-run deficit to four, before Danny Rosenfield entered and retired the final batter.
Right-hander Bennett Flynn (4-0) started and threw five innings. He matched his career-high with eight strikeouts, while allowing only two solo home runs. AJ Pabst kept the Rams scoreless in the next two frames.
Davidson took a 3-0 lead in the second, striking first when Koehler doubled and scored on Jack Cotrone’s sacrifice fly and then when runners came home on a wild pitch and passed ball. In the fourth, Cotrone homered for the 11th time, and Jake Wilhoit scored on a Douglas sacrifice after tripling.
Koehler and Douglas had two hits apiece, and Douglas drove in a team-best four.
Hit-by-a-pitch in the third, Ryan Wilson extended his reached-base streak to 45 games.
Up Next
The Wildcats are idle until next weekend when they host Saint Louis.