VCU Knocks Off DBU

By Sean Ryan

CollegeBaseballInsider.com Co-Founder

(photo by Tom Marvin)

 

A few weeks back, VCU was swept at Saint Louis, and at 8-10 in the Atlantic 10 standings, in danger of missing the conference tournament. The Rams followed that with a loss to Norfolk State.

 

They haven’t lost since.

 

On Friday night, facing a Dallas Baptist team that held the No. 1 spot in the nation in RPI for the better part of the year, fourth-seeded VCU scored five times in the fourth inning and went on to beat the top-seeded Patriots 7-2 at the Dallas Regional of the NCAA Tournament.

 

The win, VCU’s 12th in a row, marked the first tournament win for the Rams since 1993 and set up a winners’ bracket date with Oregon State on Saturday. DBU will face Texas in an elimination game that marks the first time the Patriots will host the Longhorns – the teams have played 53 times, all in Austin.

 

“It’s our first win in NCAA regional since 2003,” Rams coach Shawn Stiffler said by phone late Friday night. “I’m super proud of them but I’m more proud of the way they went at it tonight. We didn’t look like a 4-seed.

 

“We didn’t play like a team that the moment was too big for them. We went out and played like we belonged there. That’s what I expect out of them tomorrow.”

 

Brett Hileman (3 for 5) had a two-run single, and Jimmy Kerrigan added an RBI double before the Rams (38-22) added two more runs on a fielder’s choice and wild pitch from Joseph Shaw (10-4).

 

“We started to make their starter command his breaking ball in the zone a little more,” Stiffler said.

 

JoJo Howie, a senior lefty who has muscular dystrophy, worked around some trouble in the fourth and fifth innings, limiting the Patriots (43-14) to single runs. He finished with 6.2 innings, six hits and four strikeouts before turning it over to Matt Lees and Daniel Concepcion to close out DBU.

 

Stiffler said he and pitching coach Steve Hay looked at the three teams in the Regional and felt that Howie was the best matchup for Dallas Baptist, holding fellow senior lefty Heath Dwyer back for a winners’ bracket or elimination game. The Rams entered Regionals 14^th in the nation with a 2.96 ERA.

 

“JoJo was great,” Stiffler said. “He was focused. He was the perfect matchup…They’re a big swing-team.  JoJo was able to get in there and do his thing. He had great command of his changeup and off-speed tonight.

 

“He’s great for that environment,” Stiffler added. “The moment’s never too big for him.”

 

The Rams now have another big moment, squaring off against Oregon State, a 5-4 winner over Texas.

 

“We know the history of Oregon State, we know the history of Texas,” Stiffler said. “There’s no looking past that…I do not expect the moment to be too big for them.”