RICHMOND, Va. – Four VCU pitchers combined to hold Longwood to just five hits, while James Bunn went 2-for-5 with three RBI and a pair of runs scored as the Rams rolled past the Lancers 8-1 Wednesday night at The Diamond.

VCU (13-10) unleashed a dynamic onslaught at the pate, raking 14 hits off of five Longwood pitchers on its way to the eight-run performance. While Bunn led the way, several other Rams joined in the attack as both Matt Davis and Vimael Machin had 3-for-5 nights and combined to drive in another three runs.

Meanwhile, Longwood (10-13) managed to tally just once on Alex Lewis' fourth inning RBI-single to plate Brandon Delk. It was the first time Lewis has driven home a run since one month ago today at James Madison .  The five hits were the second-fewest for the Lancers on the season and marked the second-consecutive game with only a handful of base knocks.

On the mound, Michael Catlin (3-1) took his first loss as a Lancer despite turning in a solid start for the blue and white. The rookie southpaw tossed 4.1 innings allowing three runs, two earned, on six hits while striking out a career-high six batters.

"We've got to get to work tomorrow offensively," said head coach Ryan Mau. "We've got to figure some things out. We didn't string many good at-bats together and it's starting to snowball for us a little bit and we've got to grind and find a way to snap out of this funk."

VCU staked an early lead and never looked back as the Rams scored in the bottom of the first on a pair of singles and a balk. Catlin had nearly worked around a leadoff single by fanning Bunn and inducing a foul pop to grab two quick outs in the frame, but a balk negated the third out of the inning and advanced the VCU runner to second.  With new life at the plate, Machin roped a single to left to bring home the first run of the game.

The Rams would strike again in the bottom of the third, this time employing three-consecutive two-out singles to extend the lead to 2-0. The two-out rally was symptomatic of Catlin's night on the mound, as five of the six hits the freshman allowed came with two down.

Following an error with one out in the bottom of the fifth, Catlin exited the game with a final line reading 4.1 innings of work, giving up six hits and three runs, two earned, while punching out six with no free passes.

"I thought Catlin did a good job of getting us off to the right start," said Mau. "He made two young mistakes and it cost him two runs early, but overall I felt he threw the ball extremely well for us today."

The Lancers turned to Mitchell Kuebbing in relief, hoping to close the door on another VCU threat and keep it a one-run game. The Rams, however, had other plans knocking back-to-back singles to plate one run before a fielder's choice brought home another, making VCU's lead 4-1.

The two run fifth came on the heels of Longwood's only run in the top of the fourth, a big-time answer by the Rams. The Lancers cut the lead in half when Alex Lewis chopped a single through the middle, plating Brandon Delk who walked to lead the inning off. Delk was in scoring position by virtue of an odd play in which Kyri Washington appeared to have grounded into a double-play, but Delk was ruled safe as the VCU shortstop missed the bag on the turn.

Washington finished the day 1-for-4 along with Connar Bastaich as both Lancers extended their hit-streaks to five and 12 games, respectively. Unfortunately, the pair were two of five Longwood players to hit in the game as VCU pitchers stifled the Lancer bats.

Leading 4-1 in the sixth, VCU blew the game open with another pair of runs in the bottom half to push the lead to 6-1. It all started with a bunt single as the Rams' nine-hole hitter laid it down to the left side; Kuebbing came off the mound well but fired the throw wide of the bag at first and into left field. Two batters later, the run scored on a single before VCU capped the inning off with a double off the wall in left center, claiming a five-run advantage.

Longwood would never threaten again as the Lancers mustered just one hit over the final three innings, while VCU tacked on two more insurance runs in the eighth to salt the game away. Once more, it was Bunn who did the damage as his single off of Ryan Jones drove home two runs, which were charged to Allen Ellis and Devin Gould.

Eliis worked a clean seventh inning before a single to open the eighth ended his evening while Gould issued a walk and induced a ground out in his brief outing.
The Lancers now have two days to prepare for their third Big South series of the season as the blue and white plays host to High Point over the weekend at Charles Buddy Bolding Stadium. The series opens Friday night at 6 p.m. and will continue at 4 p.m. on Saturday before the finale comes on Sunday at 1 p.m.  Admission to all Longwood baseball home games is free in 2015.

Friday's game will be carried locally on WVHL 92.9 Kickin' Country and can be heard nationwide on the TuneIn Radio App, while Sunday's game will be televised on the Big South Network at BigSouthSports.com.  

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