RICHMOND, VA -- Virginia Commonwealth University baseball team pushed across the winning run in the bottom of the eighth inning and held on to win a 6-5 decision over the University of Delaware on Friday evening in a game played with playoff-like intensity under the lights of The Diamond at Richmond.

Delaware starter Billy Harris made his 72nd career appearance, tying the record set by Vic Sage from 1998-2001. David Slovak made his 27th appearance of the season to tie the single-season record set by Joe Coudon in 2004.

The loss snaps an 11-game overall winning streak for the Hens, including streaks of seven straight in Colonial Athletic Association play and eight straight on the road. Alex Buchholz (right) had two hits and scored two runs for the Hens, extending his hitting streak to 16 games.

Delaware (25-19, 14-10 CAA) got runners on the corners with no one out in the top of the first inning. Buchholz then fouled out to first base but with a 3-2 count on Bryan Hagerich, VCU starter John Leonard balked on a pickoff move to first, bringing home Ryan Jablonski. Leonard then struck out Hagerich and got a groundout from Adam Tsakonas to escape the inning with only one run scoring.

The Rams (31-18, 16-8 CAA) got their leadoff man Matthew Leskiw to second base in their half of the first when he reached on an infield single and then was awarded second when the ball was thrown away by Kyle Davis. Leskiw then moved to third on a sacrifice bunt by Sergio Miranda. Harris then struck out Kwan Evans for the second out of the inning. After a four-pitch walk to Jared Bolden, Chris Jackson fisted Harris’ first pitch just inside the line in right to score Leskiw with the tying run and move Bolden to third. Harris picked Jackson off of first base, but Bolden crossed the plate before the third out was recorded to give the Rams a 2-1 lead.

With two outs and nobody on in the second inning, the Rams got two base hits and Leskiw walked to load the bases. Miranda roped a single through the middle to make it a 3-1 VCU lead. Harris then walked Evans on four pitches to force in a run for a three-run Ram lead, before striking out Bolden to end the inning.

Down 4-1, it took the Hens only a few pitches to tie the game. Jablonski led off by reaching on an error, Menchaca walked, and Buchholz extended his hitting streak to 16 games with a flare to center to load the bases. Hagerich followed by sending a laser that the Ram leftfielder Leskiw missed when he slipped while coming in on the ball. All three runs scored and Hagerich ended up on second base with a double. Leonard got a groundout from Tsakonas and struck out Merkler when, after a walk to Danny Overcash, Scott Shockley flew out to left on the first pitch to end the inning, but not before the Hens knotted the game at 4-4.

The Rams had two runners on with one out when a double steal put two Ram baserunners in scoring position. Harris struck out catcher Carlos Rodriguez for the second out and got Richard Gonzalez to pop out to right to get out of the inning and preserve the tie.

The Hens got their first two runners on base in the sixth, and moved them to second and third on a sacrifice bunt by Davis. Leonard struck out Jablonski looking on a 3-2 pitch for the second out and Menchaca popped up along the rightfield line to end the inning and squander the scoring threat.

With one out in the sixth, the Rams mounted a threat of their own when Miranda reached on a bunt single and Evans was hit by a pitch. Bolden then doubled down the third base line to score the go-ahead run and move runners to second and third. Jackson was intentionally walked to load the bases and set up a force at any base. Harris then struck out Nathan Furry and his namesake Trai Harris to escape the jam without further damage.

Buchholz led off the top of the seventh with a ground-rule double, but was unable to advance after Hagerich popped up to center on Leonard’s first offering. Buchholz then stole third and scored when the throw by Rodriguez went wild down the leftfield line.

In the bottom of the eighth, the Rams put runners on the corners with only one out and the Hens lifted reliever Matt Heppner in favor of Slovak. Slovak got a fielder’s choice ground ball out of Chris Jackson that appeared have a chance to be turned for a double play, but after recording the out at second, Buchholz flipped the ball to the umpire and began running off the field, thinking there were three outs. Evans came home with the go-ahead run, and the Rams were in the lead.

VCU closer Luke Pisker put the Hens down in order in the ninth, including a sensational diving catch by Evans in left-center on a rocket by Hagerich. Ram reliever Bill Weiland earned the win to improve to 4-2, while Heppner took the loss to fall to 3-5. Pisker earned his ninth save.

The Hens and Rams continue their series tomorrow at 2 p.m.

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