Feb. 27, 2009

Box Score

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - The University of Richmond baseball team slugged a pair of grand slam home runs and rolled over visiting Iona College, 27-2, Friday afternoon in the first of a three-game series at Pitt Field. The rout kept the Spiders undefeated on the season and marked the second-most runs scored in school history.

Richmond improved to 6-0 and is off to its best start since going 10-0 to open the 2002 season, which ended in an Atlantic 10 West Division Championship and the school's first appearance in the NCAA Super Regionals.

Junior Ian Marshall threw a gem over seven scoreless innings, holding the visitors to just five hits with eight strikeouts and no walks. He faced just three batters over the minimum through four innings.

"Ian had one of the better outings of his career," said head coach Mark McQueen. "He was in complete command from the start, worked quick innings and allowed our offense to get back on the field."

And the Richmond offense capitalized on Marshall's efficiency, scoring 27 runs on 20 hits, including grand-slam homers from freshman 1B Ryan Mallory and sophomore C Pat Sandman. The school record for runs in a game is the 28 scored versus George Washington in 1996.

Freshman SS Adam McConnell stayed hot, picking up four hits, four runs, two RBI and a stolen base. Sophomore 1B Mike Mergenthaler was two-for-two with four RBI and a steal, while junior 2B Chris Cuppia had two hits, two RBI and scored twice. Mallory finished with five RBI.

Richmond swiped five bases in six attempts, with two from sophomore CF Andrew Lowry. Through six games this season, the Spiders have pilfered 21 bases (in 27 attempts) - after stealing just 51 all last season.

"I liked the approach today," said McQueen. "We had good at-bats, we hit balls hard and we put pressure on the defense with our speed."

Iona committed seven errors that led to nine unearned runs, while Richmond played its second-consecutive error-free contest.

Sophomore DH Billy Barber launched a three-run homer to center as the Spiders blew the game open with an eight-run fourth inning. Mallory lifted his grand slam as part of a six-run seventh inning, with Sandman's four-bagger coming in the six-run eighth.

The Spiders and Gaels (0-5) continue the weekend series Saturday at 10 a.m. The game was originally scheduled for 1 p.m., but moved up due to weather.