Feb. 22, 2009

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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - Junior righty Stephen Owens fanned seven in six innings of work and fellow junior Evan Stehle launched a two-run homer in the sixth inning as the Richmond baseball team completed a three-game sweep of Niagara at Pitt Field Sunday with a 9-2 win.

Owens scattered five hits, allowed two earned runs and walked just one in lifting the Spiders to 3-0 on the young season. Josh Horn, Jay Joines and Anthony Cafagna each worked an inning of scoreless relief and combined for five strikeouts and no walks. For the weekend, Richmond pitching racked up 35 Ks against nine walks.

"Owens pitched a great game today," said head coach Mark McQueen. "He was aggressive, attacked hitters and gave our offense a chance to get back in the dugout and score some runs."

Niagara (0-3) jumped out to an early 2-0 with runs in the first and third innings, but three runs by Richmond in the bottom of the third would prove to be the difference.

Freshman Matt Zink led off the inning with a double and quickly scored when Victor Croglio's sacrifice bunt attempt was thrown away. The tying run came home on a single by freshman Adam McConnell and sophomore Mike Mergenthaler's sacrifice fly brought home the freshman for the go-ahead tally.

With Owens settling in, the Spiders tacked on insurance thanks to an RBI double by senior Kyle Leith in the fifth inning. The sixth inning saw Ryan Metzroth single home McConnell and Stehle blast his first homer of the season.

"I thought up and down the lineup we had great approaches at the plate," said McQueen. "We were aggressive on the bases and put good swings on the ball in advantage counts. It was a team-effort offensively and I saw confidence at the plate that I didn't see last season."

Purple Eagles' starter Joe Candelmo allowed four runs and seven hits over five innings and was tagged with the loss. NU committed four errors in the finale, leading to five unearned runs.

The Spiders kept the offensive pressure on all series long, swiping 12 bases (16 attempts) in the three-game set, while drawing 24 walks, getting hit by four pitches and striking out just 16 times. As a team, Richmond batted .355 on the weekend, slugged .634 and posted a .492 on-base percentage.

"It was a great start for us and gives us some momentum early," said McQueen. But it's a long season ahead."

Richmond returns to action Tuesday at Longwood (2:30 p.m.) before returning home to host VMI Wednesday at 2:30 p.m.