TYSONS, Va. (Interstat) — Elias Holbert pitched 5 2/3 innings of no-hit baseball and the VCU Rams held off a late Richmond rally to defeat the Spiders 7-4 on Thursday evening at Capital One Park in an Atlantic 10 matchup.

Holbert, who came in with a rough outing against Davidson on May 15, was sharp from the start. He allowed no hits, no earned runs and struck out six before exiting in the sixth inning. His performance set the tone as VCU improved to 34-22, while Richmond fell to 33-23.

The Rams jumped ahead in the first inning. Dante DeFranco walked and later scored on a wild pitch that also plated an unearned run, putting VCU up 1-0. Richmond tied it in the bottom of the first when Elko scored on the same wild pitch after reaching on an error.

VCU broke the game open in the second inning. Nick Flores led off with a solo home run to deep left field, giving the Rams a 2-1 lead. The Rams added two more runs in the third. DeFranco and Petite walked, and after a sacrifice bunt, Jacob Lee singled through the left side to score DeFranco. Flores then sacrificed in Petite from third, making it 4-1.

Jacob Lee extended the lead in the fifth inning with a solo homer to deep center field, his second RBI of the game. The Rams led 5-1 entering the bottom of the sixth.

Holbert’s afternoon ended after 5 2/3 innings. Dawson Newman relieved and got out of the sixth without damage, but the game went into a rain delay in the bottom of the seventh with a runner on base.

After the delay, the game resumed with Richmond’s Chayse Gruber still on the mound. VCU brought in Zach Peters to pitch. Richmond mounted a rally. Haught walked, Wilson walked, and Elko sacrificed them into scoring position. Then Dylan Winebrenner crushed a three-run homer to deep center field, pulling the Spiders within 5-4.

But VCU answered immediately in the top of the eighth. With two outs, Kirkpatrick walked, Maher singled, and Alec Warden doubled to score Kirkpatrick. DeFranco then doubled down the right field line, driving in Maher and Warden to push the Rams lead to 7-4.

Peters, despite allowing the three-run homer, finished the game with three innings of relief, striking out five. He allowed two earned runs on no hits. Newman took a no-decision after pitching just one-third of an inning.

Richmond starter Joey Giordano lasted only 2 1/3 innings, allowing one earned run on one hit with one strikeout. Gruber pitched 4 2/3 innings in relief, giving up one earned run on five hits. Richmond’s offense totaled only four hits, three of them coming in the bottom of the seventh.

For VCU, Flores finished 2 for 4 with a home run and two RBIs. Lee was 2 for 5 with a homer and two RBIs. Warden went 2 for 3 with an RBI, and DeFranco drove in two runs despite going 1 for 3 with two walks.

The game featured two rain delays, the first in the bottom of the seventh after Haught walked. Play resumed at 9 a.m. Friday morning, with the final two innings completed. Richmond’s Winebrenner was the only Spider with multiple RBIs, finishing 1 for 4 with a three-run homer.

The win was VCU’s second straight in the series after dropping two of three to Richmond in late April. The Rams had taken the previous meeting 2-1 on April 26. Richmond had won the other two games in that series 8-4 and 2-1.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of VCU 8, Richmond 7, and Interstat’s ELO system gave VCU a 54.20 percent probability to win.