RICHMOND (Interstat) — Teige Lethert crushed a walk-off three-run homer in the bottom of the ninth inning Saturday, lifting Virginia Commonwealth to a 12-9 victory over Davidson in an Atlantic 10 slugfest at The Diamond.

The Rams improved to 32-22 overall, while the Wildcats fell to 25-26. VCU swept the three-game series, having won 9-7 on Friday and 10-0 on Thursday. The game featured five lead changes and a combined 21 hits, with the home team erasing a 9-8 deficit in the fifth inning before setting up the dramatic finish.

Davidson jumped ahead immediately in the first inning. Jacob Vannoy singled through the left side and later scored on a single by Logan Edwards. The Wildcats loaded the bases but stranded two runners. VCU answered in the bottom of the second when Nick Flores homered to left field. The Rams added a second run on a sacrifice fly by Alec Warden after a passed ball moved a runner to third.

Davidson’s offense erupted in the fifth inning. With the score 5-5, the Wildcats pushed across four runs on a single by Forrest Lietz, a walk by Grant Thomas and a hit-by-pitch from Caden Loughlin, all with the bases loaded. Lietz drove in his first run of the game, and Thomas and Loughlin each collected RBIs to give Davidson a 9-5 lead.

VCU struck back in the bottom of the fifth. Warden homered to left field, scoring two. Later in the inning, a wild pitch and a fielding error by left fielder Nathan Thomas allowed two more runs to cross, tying the game 9-9. The Rams took the lead for good in the ninth.

The ninth inning began with the score still 9-9. Davidson went down in order in the top half, as relief pitcher Hunter Gotschall struck out two batters and induced a popout. Gotschall earned the win with 3 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing two hits and striking out six.

In the bottom of the ninth, Warden singled to third base with one out. He advanced to second on a passed ball and stole third. With two outs, Davidson brought in Ashton Furr, who walked Angel Petite. Lethert then launched a 3-1 pitch over the right-field fence for his second home run of the game and his third RBI.

Alec Warden was the top performer for VCU, finishing 3 for 3 with a home run, three RBIs and a sacrifice fly. He scored twice and stole a base. Over the three-game series, Warden went 5 for 9 with two RBIs. For Davidson, Lietz went 2 for 4 with four RBIs, including a three-run double in the sixth.

Davidson starting pitcher Garrett Pyne threw two scoreless innings but left after allowing two runs, one earned. Jacob Vokal tossed 2 1/3 hitless innings with one strikeout. Carson Taggart allowed one earned run in two innings before Furr took the loss.

VCU’s bullpen was pivotal. In addition to Gotschall, Dawson Newman threw two scoreless innings with three strikeouts, and Everett Vaughan allowed one earned run in 1 1/3 innings. The Rams used five pitchers in all, each contributing to limiting Davidson to 10 hits after the Wildcats’ early outburst.

The game was the third in the series and clinched the season sweep for VCU. Davidson had won five of its previous six games but could not overcome the Rams’ late-inning power.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of VCU 7-4, and the Interstat ELO system gave the Rams a 63.90 percent probability of winning.