Furman-VCU Postseries Interviews And Highlights

GREENVILLE, S.C. -- Vimael Machin's sacrifice fly RBI in the 10th inning scored Cody Acker to break a tie and lift Virginia Commonwealth to a 3-2 victory over Furman in the final game of a three-game baseball series Sunday afternoon at Latham Stadium.

The win gave VCU (6-1) the series sweep and improved the Rams to 5-0 on the road this season.  The loss was the third straight for Furman (3-4), which plays at Georgia on Tuesday in a 4:00 p.m. game.

Machin's decisive plate appearance came after Acker singled with one out off Paladin reliever Ryan Dittmar. James Bunn followed with a base hit through left side, and Joey Cujas was hit by a Greg Harrison pitch to load the bases.  Machin then lined a Harrison offering into center field but Sky Overton's throw home failed to arrive before Acker crossed the dish for the go-ahead run.

Thomas Gill (2-1), who got the Rams out a bases loaded, two-out jam in the bottom of the ninth to send the contest into extra innings, retired the Paladins in order in the bottom on the 10th to secure the victory.  

Furman tied the game at 2-2 in the ninth on Overton's two-out, RBI single to left field off VCU closer Matt Lees that scored Jordan Simpson.  After Heath and Hunter Burton drew walks to load the bases, Gill was called on in relief of Lees and got Greg Harrison on a sharp grounder to third base to end the threat.

In a game that featured excellent starting pitching by Furman's Matt Solter and VCU's JoJo Howie, the Paladins broke through in the sixth with a Chris Ohmstede solo home run that wrapped around the left field foul poll, 330-feet from home plate.

VCU knotted it with a run in the seventh on a Bill Cullen sacrifice fly and went up, 2-1, in the eighth on  Bunn's RBI bunt single, which scored Trevor Marino.

Roughed up against Xavier in his first start of the season, Solter bounced back to throw a career best 7 1/3 innings against the Rams, yielding two runs on three hits while walking four.

Howie surrendered one run on five hits over seven frames.  He walked two and fanned five.

Furman out-hit VCU 8-7, with Overton's 2-for-4 performance leading the way.  Bunn had two of the Rams' safeties.  The Paladins stranded 10 runners, including two in both the third and sixth innings.

Dittmar (0-1) took the loss for Furman.