March 12, 2007

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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - An eight-run sixth inning helped Yale to a 13-6 win over Richmond on Monday, avoiding a sweep of the three-game series at Pitt Field.

Richmond had taken a 5-3 lead in the bottom of the fifth, but in the top of the sixth Yale had its first 11 batters reach safely and eight of them scored to give the Bulldogs an 11-5 lead. Two solo homers made the lead 13-5, before Alex Wotring drove in a run in the bottom of the ninth for Richmond.

"They exposed some of our weaknesses, our middle relief and bullpen," Richmond head coach Ron Atkins said. "We've got to get better at that."

Richmond continued to swing the bat well, with nine hits on the day, but while the Spiders finished the three-game series with 50 hits, they did not get the timely hits Monday that they had been getting in the first two games.

"Our failure to swing the bats and get the key hit early made it difficult," Atkins said.

Hank Coogan was the only Spider with multiple hits. Coogan went 2-for-4 with a RBI and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Cameron Brown, Vince Riggi and Matt McKenna each had a hit and drove in a run.

Richmond starter Alex Hale had the Spiders in the game with a 5-3 lead heading into the sixth, but he walked a batter and got the next batter to ground into a potential doubleplay. Richmond only got the force at second and Hale hit the next batter, bringing an end to his outing. Hale would be charged with both of those runs and six more would score on the Spider bullpen.

"I think we came out a little flat for the third game, we can't afford to do that. We were a little sloppy defensively," Atkins said.

Yale took its first lead of the series in the second inning of the third game, scoring two unearned runs to take a 2-0 lead. Richmond answered with two runs of its own in the bottom of the inning when Brown led off with a single, advanced to second on a passed ball and scored on a RBI-single by Riggi.

Riggi advanced to second on a groundout by Joe White and scored the tying run on a RBI-single by McKenna.

Yale scored on a doubleplay in the third inning to take a 3-2 lead, but Richmond would take the lead with a three-run fifth inning.

Austin Reilly led off the inning with a single up the middle, Benji Marshall walked and Coogan doubled them both in for a 4-3 lead. After Mahoney was intentionally walked for the third time in the series to load the bases, Brown drew a walk to force in a run and give the Spiders a 5-3 advantage that would not last long.

Richmond continues its nine-game homestand on Wednesday when the Spiders host Old Dominion at 3:00 p.m.