March 28, 2007

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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Spiders scored two runs in the bottom of the eighth for a come-from-behind 4-3 victory over James Madison on Wednesday at Pitt Field, giving Richmond head coach Ron Atkins the 700th victory of his career.

Trailing 3-2 in the bottom of the eighth, junior Joe Mahoney doubled in the tying run and senior Alex Wotring's RBI-single gave Richmond a 4-3 lead. Junior closer Brian Alas came on in the ninth to retire the Dukes in order to give Atkins win No. 700.

Atkins, who is in his 23rd season at Richmond, is already the school's all-time coaching wins leader in any sport. He announced prior to the season that this will be his final year as head coach of the Spiders.

The University of Richmond Hall-of Fame inductee has led the Spiders to four NCAA Tournament appearances, including a NCAA Super Regional Berth when Richmond took Nebraska to a decisive game, coming one win from the 2002 College World Series. He has led the Spiders to 30 or more wins in 10 of the last 16 seasons, including a school-record 53-13 mark in 2002 and a 48-15 record in 2003.

"It's another great milestone as a head coach," said Atkins, who also won his 500th game against James Madison. "It means I've been here a long time and I'm a survivor, but I do appreciate what it means, we've won a lot of ballgames. It's very special getting No. 700 before our home fans, that means a lot to me."

Richmond, which has won six-straight games and 11 of the last 13, was down 3-0 entering the bottom of fifth. Senior Andrew Justice led the bottom of the fifth with a double, then tagged on back-to-back fly balls by sophomore Cameron Brown and senior Matt McKenna to score Richmond's firsr run.

The Spiders cut the lead to 3-2 in the seventh, when Wotring started the inning with a double to left and McKenna singled up the middle to plate Wotring.

In the bottom of the seventh junior Hank Coogan reached on a bunt single, advanced to second when the throw went out of play and scored on Mahoney's laser double to center. Senior Vince Riggi singled through the left side to move Mahoney to third and Wotring laced a single to right field for the game-winning RBI.

Alas came on in the ninth and retired the Dukes in order on a strikeout and two ground outs, giving him his sixth save of the season and his fourth in his many games.

"Alas continues to come in and do a great job shutting the opponents down," Atkins said.

Freshman Scott O'Neil got the win for Richmond, holding James Madison (8-17) to two hits in four innings.

"O'Neil throwing four zeros on the board helped us stay in the game, he did a great job," Atkins said.

Richmond freshman starter Matt Trent allowed four hits and three runs in four innings of work.

The Spiders had 10 hits, their 10th time with double-digits in hits this season. Mahoney went 3-for-4 with a run batted in and run scored. McKenna was 1-for-2 with two RBIs and Coogan extended his hitting streak to eight games with the bunt single that opened the eighth-inning rally. Wotring was 2-for-4 with the game-winning RBI and a run scored.

The Spiders return to action Friday when the open a three-game Atlantic 10 series at George Washington, beginning at 4 p.m.