UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. RichmondSpiders.com continues its 10 for 10 feature with the baseball team's run to the 2002 Super Regional as No. 4 in this week's feature.
Under Hall of Fame head coach Ron Atkins, Richmond recorded its most prolific season in the program's now 97-year history. The Spiders won a school-record 53 games against 13 losses and set eight team and 11 individual records on their way to the NCAA Super Regional - and coming within one win of reaching the College World Series.
Richmond posted a 46-8 regular season mark and went a sparkling 22-2 in league play to claim an Atlantic 10 regular-season West Division title and an at-large berth in the NCAA Tournament.
Richmond entered the Regional as the No. 2 seed in Winston-Salem, N.C. Mike McGirr advanced the Spiders to the finals of the Winston-Salem Regional after earning his 10th-consecutive win of the season, 15-5 over Navy.
Richmond took a 3-2 win over Wake Forest in the first game of the championship series to advance to the final against the Demon Deacons. Wake Forest forced a second game with its 5-4, 10-inning, win. The Spiders then clinched their first-ever Regional title in a 7-5 victory.
Entering the program's first Super Regional, Richmond invaded Haymarket Park in Lincoln, Neb., for a three-game series against Nebraska. The Huskers grabbed the first win in front of a record 8,474 fans, 2-0.
The Spiders rallied back in the second game to take the victory 6-2 thanks to a one-out, walk-off grand slam from Vito Chiaravalloti in the bottom of the ninth that broke a 2-2 tie and stunned the near-capacity Cornhusker crowd.
Richmond didn't go quietly in the decisive third game as Bryan Pritz tied the game at 5-5 in the bottom of seventh with a two-run homer, before Nebraska erupted in the bottom of eighth with five runs and advanced with an 11-5 win.
Tune into RichmondSpiders.com later this week for No. 3 in the 10 for 10 feature.
