RICHMOND, Va. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team fell at VCU, 6-3, in the series opener between the teams at The Diamond on Friday night.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Saint Joseph's (9-15 overall, 3-4 Atlantic 10) took the lead in the second as Owen Petrich led off with a double, moved to third on a single by Aidan Duda, and scored on a sacrifice fly by Michael Pierson.
 
• The hosts tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a squeeze bunt by Nate Kirkpatrick.
 
• Petrich put the Hawks back in front in the top of the fourth with a solo home run, but the Rams went ahead in the sixth on RBI singles by Nick Flores and Sean Swenson.
 
• VCU (6-19 overall, 1-6 Atlantic 10) extended the lead in the seventh on another single by Flores before two run-scoring wild pitches made it a 6-2 game.
 
• Petrich reached once again in the eighth on a throwing error, advanced to second when Duda drew a walk, and came in to score on a single by Blake Primrose.  The Hawks would then load the bases, but the Rams would escape the jam.  The Hawks would go on to bring the tying run to the plate in the top of the ninth, but could not push across another run.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Owen Tappy tossed six and two-thirds innings, allowing two runs on six hits, to earn the win for VCU.  Frank Ciccone allowed three runs in six innings to take the loss.  Zachary Peters threw two and a third innings and allowed an unearned run to notch the save.
 
• Petrich was 2-for-5 with a run batted in and three runs scored to lead the Hawks, while Tim Dickinson also recorded a pair of hits in the game.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks and Rams will meet on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.