THREE FORMER RAMS OFF AND RUNNING IN MLB

[BigE]

RICHMOND, Va. – Former Virginia Commonwealth University baseball standouts Brandon Inge, Cla Meredith, and Sean Marshall are off to hot starts in the first month of the 2009 Major League Baseball season.

Inge has provided much needed power to the Detroit lineup, helping the Tigers to a first place lead in the American League Central.

The third baseman, who hit just 11 homeruns in all of 2008, is tied for the Major League lead with seven long balls in the first 18 games of the 2009 campaign.

Inge is hitting .323, while posting a team-best 17 RBI and 15 runs scored. To say he’s swinging a hot bat would be an understatement as he homered in each of Detroit’s three games against Kansas City last weekend.

“I don’t even think about the outcome,” Inge told MLB.com after Sunday’s win over the Royals. “As the pitch is coming, I just let everything that I worked on in the offseason take over. That mindset is probably the best thing I’ve got going right now.”

Meanwhile, Meredith is off to an impressive start on the mound for San Diego. The right-handed reliever began the season with six-straight scoreless outings before allowing two runs on three hits against Pittsburgh on Sunday.

Meredith, who currently sports a 3-0 record with a 2.84 ERA in 6.1 innings of work, has a history of being effective out of the bullpen. He tossed a Padres’ franchise record 33.2 scoreless innings during a second-half stretch of the 2006 campaign, his first full season in the Majors.

Marshall has been a regular in the Chicago Cubs’ pitching staff since making his big league debut in 2006 and currently sits as the fifth starter in the rotation.

After beginning the season with a pair of relief appearances, the southpaw has made back-to-back starts. In his most recent outing on Saturday, he suffered a tough loss against St. Louis after allowing three runs on six hits in 6.0 innings with five strikeouts.

On the season, Marshall is 0-1 with a 4.50 ERA, while fanning nine batters in 12.0 innings of work.