Junior shortstop Joshua Arteaga (Homestead, Fla./Motlow State CC) also drove in three runs for the Rams, who improved to 25-6 overall and won their 22nd straight game in their home park. Sophomore first baseman Danny Lopaze (Lakeridge, Va./Potomac) added two hits and two RBI in the win, while freshman righthander Matt Prendergast (Herndon, Va./Oakton) held the Tar Heels scoreless over the first five innings to improve to 2-0 on the season.

VCU struck early against Carolina freshman Scott Mansack (1-3), who allowed three first inning runs and failed to retire the first four hitters before giving way to Scott Senatore. Junior center fielder Matt Davis (Colonial Heights, Va./Thomas Dale) led off with a walk and reached second on Gillespie's infield single. Arteaga then plated both with a double down the left field line and later came home on an RB I groundout off the bat of sophomore third baseman Robbie Gragnani (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin).

The Rams, ranked 29th in the latest Collegiate Baseball Division I poll, scored four more times in the second to take a commanding 7-0 lead, and Gillespie put VCU up by nine runs when he doubled home Davis and junior Chris Gerrity (Midlothian, Va./Midlothian) in the bottom of the fifth.

North Carolina (19-14) scored its only runs in the sixth inning when it loaded the bases with one out off Prendergast. A run-scoring groundout by Chris Maples scored Jeremy Cleveland with the first Tar Heel run, and Ryan Blake drew a bases-loaded walk from senior Chad Baumann (Lanesville, Ind./Floyd Central) to cap the scoring. Cleveland finished three-for-four on the evening, while Sean Farrell added a pair of hits for the Tar Heels in defeat.

The Rams will next host 20th-ranked East Carolina in a crucial Colonial Athletic Association three-game series beginning Friday night at The Diamond. Game time is 7 p.m. North Carolina begins a three-game set with fellow Atlantic Coast Conference member Maryland on Friday.