Sacred Heart at Virginia Commonwealth
Feb. 24 - 3 p.m.
Feb. 25 - 2 p.m.
Feb. 26 - 1 p.m.
The Diamond - Richmond, Va.
ESPN+
After a tough opening weekend on the road in North Carolina, the Sacred Heart University baseball team is headed south again, this time to Richmond, Va., for a three-game weekend series against defending Atlantic-10 champion Virginia Commonwealth.
VCU plays its home games at The Diamond in downtown Richmond, which is also home to the Richmond Flying Squirrels, the Double-A, Eastern League affiliate of the San Francisco Giants. The Diamond also previously housed the Triple-A Richmond Braves for more than 20 years, serving as developmental home to many of the players who would feature in the mid-90s Atlanta Braves dynasty, including Hall of Famers Tom Glavine, Chipper Jones and John Smoltz.
LAST TIME OUT
Justin Jordan went 2-for-4 with an RBI double, but it was not enough for SHU to match the seven-run effort of UNC Asheville in the last of a three-game series on Sunday, as the Pioneers fell, 7-2, at Greenwood Field. Justin Honeycutt picked up the win for the Bulldogs, as he struck out four and allowed only one hit over five innings.
A LOOK AT THE PIOS
Sacred Heart (0-3) was swept on opening weekend, on the road at UNC Asheville. Tim McGuire went 3-for-6 and posted a .625 on-base percentage across the three games. Justin Jordan had three hits across the three games as well, including a double, and drove in a pair. First-year Gino Manicchio clubbed the Pios' first home run of the season in Saturday's game. McGuire was tabbed as a Northeast Conference Prime Performer for his work over the weekend.
SCOUTING THE RAMS
An NCAA Championship participant a year ago, Virginia Commonwealth (2-1) opened its season by taking two of three in tournament play at Coastal Carolina, with wins over Fairfield and the host Chanticleers, as well as a loss to Middle Tennessee. Will Carlone posted a .357/.400/.714 slash line over 14 at-bats (5-for-14) in the Palmetto State, including two doubles and a home run, and drove in seven of the team's 22 runs.
ON THE MOUND
For the Pios, the weekend rotation looks the same as it did against UNC Asheville, with a trio of right-handers headed to the bump in Jack Kramer, Jake Babuschak and Cooper Thompson. Kramer logged 4.1 innings in the season opener and struck out four, but also walked three and allowed three runs on four hits. Babuschak threw four-plus innings and surrendered four runs on eight hits and a pair of walks. Thompson could not get out of the third, with five runs (four earned) charged to his ledger on six hits, with a pair of strikeouts.
VCU is expected to counter with left-hander Campbell Ellis, followed by fellow southpaw Christian Gordon and right-hander Mason Delane, which is also the same trio the Rams went with on opening weekend. Ellis could not escape the fourth in the opener against Middle Tennessee, as he was tagged for eight runs (six earned) on eight hits and a pair of walks over 2.2 innings. Gordon logged five scoreless innings with three hits and five strikeouts, but also walked four in a win over Fairfield. Delane threw the first 3.1 innings against Coastal Carolina, and allowed one run on three hits, walked two, hit a batter and struck out three.
LAST MEETING
The Pios traveled to The Diamond for a three-game series on this same weekend three years ago, in 2020. VCU took the opener, 5-3, and the closing game, 6-1, but SHU snagged a 5-4 victory in the middle game. Justin Jordan went 4-for-5 with a double, scored twice, drove in a run and stole a base at the top of the lineup in the SHU win, as part of a 6-for-14 weekend.
ALL-TIME SERIES
In all, the teams have met six times, all at The Diamond, with VCU holding a 5-1 record. In addition to the 2020 contests, the Rams swept a three-game series from the Pios in late February of 2005.
NEXT UP
The Pios have a third and final non-conference series on the docket next weekend, with four games at Wofford on March 3-5. SHU will tack on a midweek game at USC Upstate on March 7, before opening NEC play at Norfolk State the following weekend.
