RICHMOND, VA. - The Monmouth University baseball team dropped both games of a non-conference doubleheader to Virginia Commonwealth, Sunday afternoon at The Diamond.  With the pair of losses, the Hawks fall to 4-5 on the season, while the Rams improve to 7-5 with the victories.

In game one, Ed Martin (Hazlet, N.J./Raritan [Brookdale CC]) led all Hawks with two hits, but MU's offense could not plate a run against VCU's starter Ryan Farrar and the Rams' bullpen.  Farrar got the win, throwing 7.0 scoreless frames, while his counterpart Dan Smith (Marlton, N.J./Cherokee) was tagged with the loss after allowing three earned runs on seven hits.

John McDonald (Langhorne, Pa./Conwell Egan Catholic) threw an inning out of MU's pen, allowing a run on two hits, while Joe Loiodice (Forest Hill, Md./John Carroll) hurled a perfect frame in relief.   T.J. Hunt (Wyckoff, N.J./Ramapo) made his third appearance of his freshman campaign, striking out a batter.

Down 5-3 heading into the ninth inning in game two, Monmouth got a leadoff double from Owen Stewart (Howell, N.J./St. Rose) and a pinch-hit walk from Chris Perret (Morris Plains, N.J./Morris Catholic), but VCU's reliever Blake Hauser registered three-straight strikeouts to secure the victory.

The Hawks got on the board in the second inning as Martin walked and moved to third Stewart's single. Rookie Steve Wilgus (Woolwich, N.J./Gloucester Catholic) connected on his first collegiate double, driving in the first RBI of his career to give the Blue and White an early 1-0 lead.

VCU knotted the score in the home half of the inning on back-to-back doubles, but Monmouth answered in the ensuing frame.  Jamie Rosenkranz (Oakhurst, N.J./Ocean Township) found the gap in left-center field for a leadoff double and later moved to third on Danny Avella's (Matawan, N.J./Christian Brothers Academy) groundout.  Martin earned a free pass and with Stewart at-bat, Martin got tagged out going to second but not before Rosenkranz crossed home plate to have the Hawks regain the lead at 2-1.

The Rams captured their first advantage of the game in the bottom of the third inning, scoring two runs on two hits and then added a tally in the fourth on Paul Nice's two-out double to go ahead, 4-2.

Jon Guida (Martinsville, N.J./Bridgewater Raritan) led off the fifth inning with a single and moved to second on Josh Boyd's (Port Murray, N.J./West Morris Central) sacrifice bunt.  Rosenkranz followed with a single to center, cutting the Rams' lead to 4-3, but VCU added an insurance run in the seventh on Joey Cujas' double.

Rosenkranz and Stewart both went 3-for-4 in the nightcap for the Blue and White. 

Starter Stephen Frey (Washingtonville, N.J./Washingtonville) struck out two batters in his second start of the season.  The sophomore lefty allowed four runs on seven hits in 4.0 innings to get tagged with the loss.  Classmate Andrew McGee (Toms River, N.J./Toms River South) came in from the bullpen and yielded one run on four hits in 4.0 innings of work.  The Rams' starter Kyle Pelchy, who allowed MU's three runs, picked up his second win of the year after 5.2 inning of action.

Monmouth heads south to Troy University for a three game-series with the Sun Belt Conference's preseason favorite in Alabama starting on Friday.