RAMS' STREAK HITS 11 WITH TWO MORE HOME WINS 03-10-03 Wagner boxscore Quinnipiac boxscore RICHMOND, Va.- Junior Matt Prendergast (Herndon, Va./Oakton) scattered just three hits over eight shutout innings as Virginia Commonwealth completed a four-game sweep of Wagner with a 12-0 baseball victory Monday afternoon at The Diamond. Later in the day, the Rams ran their winning streak to 11 straight games with a 12-2 triumph over Quinnipiac. Senior Michael Leishman (Millbrae, Calif./Skyline JC) struck out a season-high 11 hitters in eight strong innings to help VCU improve to 13-3 on the year. Junior Robbie Gragnani (Richmond, Va./Mills Godwin) fueled the Ram offense with seven hits in 10 at-bats over the two games, and along with classmate Anthony Granato (Burlingame, Calif./Skyline JC), finished with four runs batted in over the course of the day. Junior second baseman Nick Jones (Vinton, Va./William Byrd) also had a pair of hits in both contests, including a two-run homer in the Quinnipiac win. Prendergast allowed just six Seahawk hitters to reach base and fanned nine batters overall as the righthander moved to 2-0 on the season. Leishman (2-1) was nearly as brilliant in the second game, as the native Californian allowed just six hits and one earned run while walking just two batters. VCU managed just one run against Wagner freshman Andrew Bailey (0-2) over the first three innings before bursting out with a six-run fourth. Senior first baseman Danny Lopaze (Lakeridge, Va./Potomac) started the frame with a base hit, stole second, and came home on Gragnani's two-out base hit for a 2-0 Rams' lead. After a walk and two hit batters forced home another run, senior right fielder Justin Mattison (Milpitas, Calif./San Jose City CC) laced a two-run single to put VCU up 5-0, and Granato followed with a base hit which plated junior Eric Latura (Midlothian, Va./Manchester) for a six-run cushion. The Rams struck for five runs over their final two at-bats to close out the scoring, highlighted by a two-run double by Latura in the bottom of the seventh and run-scoring hits by Gragnani, senior left fielder Jose Pabon (Woodbridge, Va./Potomac) and junior shortstop Paul Swack (Pismo Beach, Va./Allan Hancock JC) in the eighth. Against Quinnipiac, VCU put three quick runs on the board against Bobcats' lefthander Richard Bengel in the bottom of the first, then tallied four more times in the second for a 7-0 advantage. After a walk and a pair of Quinnipiac errors loaded the bases, Granato laced a triple into the left-centerfield gap to clear the sacks, then came home on a groundout off the bat of Lopaze to push the margin to seven runs. Jones slugged his second home run of the season off Bobcats' reliever Joe Dohlan in the fourth to put the Rams' ahead by a 10-0 count, and Gragnani came through with his second run-scoring single of the game to give VCU an 11-1 lead after six innings. Sophomore Brian Magee went three-for-four for Quinnipiac in the loss, while freshman first baseman Bryan Sabetella knocked in a run with a base hit in the top of the sixth. VCU will wrap up its three-game series with the Bobcats tomorrow afternoon at The Diamond. Game time is 2 p.m.