April 8, 2007

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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond baseball team erased an early 4-0 deficit and scored six unanswered runs to defeat Xavier, 6-4, at Pitt Field on Sunday afternoon. Benji Marshall had three hits and drove in two runs, while starting pitcher Alex Hale picked up his fourth win of the season, lifting the Spiders to 19-13 overall, 7-2 in the A-10.

Marshall was three-for-four with two runs and two RBIs and Andrew Justice stayed hot going three-for-five with a run. The senior from Henderson, N.C. had six hits in the final two games of the series. Brian Alas picked up his conference-leading eighth save of the season, helping Richmond win its third A-10 series in as many tries.

"This was a huge win for us," said head coach Ron Atkins. "I was really happy with how our guys bounced back after yesterday."

In the decisive fifth inning, with Richmond trailing 4-3, Cameron Brown tripled with one out after XU centerfield Adam Pasono lost the fly ball in the sun. Brown scored to tie the game on a Victor Croglio sac fly. Hank Coogan's single to score Marshall gave Richmond the lead for good and chased XU starter Michael Lucas. The Spiders added insurance with a bases-loaded walk to Joe White.

Hale bounced back from a shaky start to hold the Musketeers scoreless in his final four innings of work. The starter put himself in an early hole as the visitors pounced for three runs in the top of the first on back-to-back homers by Sean Farrell and Adam Lipski.

Xavier (12-20, 7-2) tacked on another in the second, trading a run for a double-play ball that brought home Matt Waskerwitz.

"It was great that Hale was able to get us six innings," said Atkins. "He threw 104 pitches today. We're a little thin in our middle relief right now and it was big that he was able to settle in and finally get that slider working for him."

Alas shut the door on Xavier by pitching the final 1.2 innings allowing no hits with a strikeout. Josh Horn came on in relief of Hale and held XU scoreless over 1.1 innings to set the table for Alas.

Richmond plated its first two runs in the bottom of the second when Marshall drove in Justice and Matt McKenna with a double to left field. The Spiders pulled within one at 4-3 in the fourth inning as Vince Riggi was plunked with the bases loaded.

For the game, Richmond belted 11 hits and drew seven walks, but stranded 15 runners on base. The Spiders left the bases loaded on three occasions.

The win puts Richmond back into a second-place tie with Xavier and Fordham in the conference standings. Charlotte, which sits in first at 8-1, visits Pitt Field on the last weekend of the regular season.

"I keep telling our guys how important it is to finish first or second in the A-10," said Atkins. "To get that first-round bye in the tournament is a huge advantage."

Richmond's next two conference opponents, Temple (at home next weekend) and Duquesne (in Pittsburgh April 18-21) are below .500 in league play.