April 13, 2005

Box Score

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Another productive first inning was all the Spider baseball squad put together, falling for the eight-straight time, 5-1, Wednesday to James Madison. Richmond's loss, its third-straight at home, drops the team to 14-19 overall. The Dukes improve to 14-18 on the season.

James Madison posted an early run in the first when it led off the inning with three-straight base knocks off starter freshman Brian Alas, with the third being an RBI-single up the middle. Alas settled the Dukes by fanning the next three in order on his way to a career-high eight punchouts in his appearance.

Richmond answered in its half of the first beginning with a single to center from junior Ben Zeskind. Freshman Alex Hale moved Zeskind to second on a sac-bunt then freshman Joe Mahoney single through the left side to put runners at first and third for junior Andrew Justice. The Henderson, N.C., native drove in the tying run with a single to rightfield, but was stranded at second after the next two were retired.

The Dukes again took the lead in the fourth when Justin Bristow and Kellen Kulbacki garnered back-to-back one-out doubles off Alas. Two innings later James Madison pushed three across with one out. Joe Lake got a bunt single down then scored on a Bristow double and error on the Spiders' leftfielder, freshman Joe White. Bristow then scored when Kulbacki blasted the first pitch he saw from Alas over the rightfield wall.

Richmond did not have an answer after scoring its first and only run of the game in the first. The Spiders notched two base hits to lead off the third and one to lead off the fourth, but failed to reach base again until the eighth inning. The hit in the eighth, from Hale off reliever David Rich, did not do any damage as he was stranded at first. Again in the ninth, Justice reached on a base hit, but after moving to second on a passed ball he was stranded to end the game.

JMU's starter, Ryan Reid, was outstanding on the hill. He worked seven complete innings to earn his third win of the season (3-2). The righthander gave up one earned run on six hits and struckout six. After giving up Richmond's six hits in the first four innings, the freshman retired 12 straight giving way to the Duke bullpen. Alas suffered the loss and dropped to 5-4. The Port Washington, N.Y., native worked six innings, allowed five runs on 10 hits, fanned a career-best eight and did not allow a walk.

The Spiders are scheduled to host George Washington Saturday, April 16, in its fifth Atlantic 10 series of the season. Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at noon and Sunday's single game, April 17, will also start at noon. Bob Black and Simon Gray will call the first game of the series from Pitt Field on ESPN Radio 950 which can be heard in the Richmond area. The broadcast will also be available on the web at ESPN950am.com

Game Notes
- Junior Ben Zeskind extended his hit streak to nine games with a 2-for-4 effort today.
- Freshman Alex Hale has now reached base safely in each of his last 18 games.
- Freshman Brian Alas struckout a career-high eight in his six innings of work.
- Richmond's eight-game losing streak is the longest since 1986 when the Spiders lost 10 consecutive contests.