April 12, 2009

Box Score |  Photos 

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Freshman Adam McConnell had three hits, sophomore Andrew Lowry scored three runs and sophomore Anthony Cafagna pitched a gem to lead Richmond past Dayton, 8-4, Sunday in the series finale at Pitt Field.

Cafagna fanned five and threw just 90 pitches in 6.1 innings of work with five hits and three runs to put Richmond in the win column for the first time since March 27 at George Washington, snapping a 10-game slide. The outing was career long for Cafagna, who improved to 3-2 and dipped his ERA to 5.27 on the season.

McConnell finished the day three-for-four with a run and an RBI, while Cameron Brown and Ryan Metzroth each drove in a pair of runs. Eight of Richmond's nine starters had hits as the Spiders pounded out 11 in the winning effort.

Richmond (14-15, 4-8) opened a lead as big as 5-1 for Cafagna, but the explosive Dayton (20-14, 8-4) offense, which struck for 30 runs and 37 hits in winning the first games of the series, would make it interesting down the stretch.

Jimmy Roesinger's RBI double with one out in the seventh inning ended Cafagna's day and pulled Dayton within 5-2. Jared Bard came on and worked a ground out, before loading the bases by plunking a pair of Flyers in consecutive at bats. Matt Zink relieved Bard and yielded a two-run single to Marshall McDonald but escaped further damage in the seventh and kept the lead in tact for Richmond.

With reliever Dayton Sean Finn working deep into the game after just 1.2 innings from starter Chuck Ghysels, the Spiders hung three runs of insurance on the board in the eighth with Metzroth's two-RBI double to left field and an RBI double from Chris Cowell in the next at bat.

Zink's day ended in the eighth after a walk, a strikeout and a double, but Billy Barber plunked Scott Dunwoody to load the bases. Jacob Spaeth and Zach Jacob each ripped line drives in consecutive at bats, but Brown stabbed Spaeth's drive out of the air at third and Mike Mergenthaler reeled in Jacob's rip at first.

Ian Marshall finished off the Flyers in order in the ninth with two strikeouts to slam the door on the victory - the Spiders' first non-extra innings triumph since beating Bryant, 7-6, on March 10. All four of the Spiders' wins in between came in extra frames.

Richmond came up empty after loading the bases in the first, but packed the sacks again in the second and plated three runs to seize a 3-1 advantage. McConnell drove in Chris Cuppia, Victor Croglio scored on a wild pitch and Mergenthaler's groundout scored Lowry.

Brown's two-RBI double in the sixth gave Richmond its 5-1 lead.

The Spiders are back in action Wednesday at Pitt Field to host cross-town rival VCU. First pitch is slated for 3 p.m.