VCU DOWNS HOFSTRA FOR SECOND STRAIGHT DAY

RICHMOND, Va. (April 19) -  Junior third baseman Anthony Granato batted three-for-four with three runs batted in to power Virginia Commonwealth to a 7-4 victory over visiting Hofstra in Colonial Athletic Association baseball Saturday afternoon at The Diamond.

Senior Jose Pabon added three hits and a pair of RBI to the Rams¹ 14-hit attack, while junior shortstop Paul Swack collected three hits in three at-bats for VCU, which improved to 28-10 overall and 10-3 in the CAA after taking the first two contests of its three-game series with the Pride.  Freshmen J.P. Wechter and Ricky Caputo each finished three-for-five at the plate for Hofstra, which fell to 7-25 overall and is now 2-9 in CAA games.

Rams¹ junior Sean Marshall picked up the win after surrendering three runs and seven hits over the first six innings. The lefthander, now 5-2 on the year, also struck out seven Hofstra hitters for the game.  Twin brother Brian Marshall then held the Pride to a single run over the final three frames to notch his eighth save.

Granato gave VCU a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first when his single plated junior center fielder Eric Latura, who led off the inning with a walk.  Pabon then followed with a base hit through the left side of the infield to score senior right fielder Justin Mattison
and give the Rams a two-run cushion.

VCU struck three more times in the second against HU starter Ryan Cosentino (1-5) to extend its advantage to 5-0.  After back-to-back singles by Swack and Latura put runners on first and second with one out,  Granato knocked both men home with a triple into the left center field gap.  Pabon then smacked his second RBI base hit of the day for a five-run Rams¹ lead.

Sean Marshall kept the Pride off the scoreboard for the first four innings before Hofstra broke through in the top of the fifth.  Senior right fielder Thomas Brown opened the frame with an infield single, moved to third on a wild pitch follwed by a groundout, then crossed the plate on a base hit off the bat of sophomore center fielder Josh Stewart.

The Rams got two more runs off Cosentino in the bottom of the fifth on a double from sophomore catcher Jeff Parrish (Poquoson, Va./Poquoson), an RBI triple by freshman left fielder Joe Meador (Mechanicsville, Va./Lee-Davis) and a run-scoring single from Swack, but the Pride cut its deficit to 7-3 on Wechter¹s two-run homer in the sixth.

Brian Marshall pitched out of a one-out jam in the eighth with runners on first and second and got into some more trouble again in the ninth when a leadoff walk and a base hitby Stewart put two men on with no out.  However, the Rams¹ closer got freshman Josh Stern to line into a double play and after yielding an RBI single to Caputo, struck out Wechter to end the game.

The two teams will wrap up their weekend set tomorrow afternoon in a 2 p.m. start.