The Toppers met a tradition-rich Virginia Commonwealth program last weekend with a little history of their own.

Western (18-7) swept the Rams (10-10), making the Toppers 15-1 at Denes Field, the best home start in the program’s history.

Sophomore designated hitter Matt Rice said that the players feel more confident at home because of their familiarity with the field.

“It’s just the fact that we’re on our home field all throughout the fall and during the beginning of the spring, and we do a lot of work on the field,” he said. “We know how our field plays. We’re used to the scenery.”

Coach Chris Finwood said that the team’s home record doesn’t reflect on the field so much as the team’s attitude towards it.

“We’ve tried to put a lot of emphasis on defending our home field and how much that means to our program,” he said. “It’s more how much our guys appreciate the facility and want to really defend their home turf.”

The Toppers defended the field last weekend by dispatching the Rams with a combined score of 43-24 in three games.

Finwood said he enjoyed the opportunity to challenge his mentor, VCU coach Paul Keyes.

“We were able to go out and get dinner a couple nights, have breakfast, visit during batting practice – things you don’t normally do with opposing coaches,” he said. “He was very complimentary of our ball club, of our facilities and of how everything was run here, so that was nice.”

Rice and junior first baseman Jake Wells gave praiseworthy performances, hitting a combined 16-for-26 during the weekend sweep. The two contributed a total of 12 runs and 21 runs batted in for the series.

“They’ve both had really good weeks and outstanding weekends,” Finwood said. “They’re just polished college hitters, and it’s nice to see when guys are really stepping up like that. They both certainly did.”

Rice leads the Toppers in a number of offensive categories, including at-bats (100), hits (41), doubles (10, tied with senior shortstop Terrence Dayleg), and runs batted in (36). He also ranks second in batting average (.410, just behind junior third baseman Wade Gaynor’s .411).

“It wouldn’t surprise me if, next year, Matt Rice is getting the same type of notoriety that Wade Gaynor’s getting this year,” Finwood said. “This time last year, nobody was talking about Wade Gaynor.”

Wells averages a .362 batting average (fourth-best on the team) and has tallied 34 hits (third-best) and 24 RBI (fourth-best).

Wells has struck out only seven times in 94 at-bats, best on the team.

“I’m not a flashy player,” Wells said, “but I just do the little things that I need to do for us to be successful as a team. As far as hitting home runs and all that, that’s not really my style of play.”

Wells said that his role on the team revolves around getting on base and scoring base runners instead of focusing on his individual statistics.

“If I’m on base, it’s a little harder for them to either pitch around Wade or pitch around (senior outfielder) Chad (Cregar),” he said.

The Toppers will face Kentucky Wesleyan at 4 p.m. today at Denes field.