May 1, 2009

Box Score |  Photos 

UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Junior 3B Cameron Brown went four-for-five with a home run and sophomore 1B Mike Mergenthaler had two hits, a homer and five RBI as the Richmond baseball team pounded out a 13-10 win over Temple Friday at Pitt Field.

Brown's four hits tied his season-high -- he also scored four times -- while junior 2B Chris Cuppia was three-for-five with an RBI as the Spiders collected 16 hits on the day. Freshman LF Phil Ruzbarsky was the third Spider to homer -- launching a three-run shot to right field for his first collegiate round-tripper that proved to be the game-winner.

The victory allowed Richmond to jump from 11th-place to ninth in the standings and improved the Spiders to 19-19 overall, 8-11 in the A-10. Temple, which entered the day in third-place, slipped to 16-25, 10-8.

The Spiders are 5-2 on Fridays in conference play this season.

Richmond trailed 6-4 heading to bottom of the fifth before Cuppia and freshman SS Adam McConnell kept the inning alive with back-to-back two-out singles off Temple starter Ben White. Ruzbarsky stepped to the plate and blasted White's full-count offering off a parked car in right field, giving Richmond the lead for good at 7-6.

McConnell was two-for-three and extended his hitting streak to a season-long 13 games. The freshman also swiped two bases to extend his stolen-base steak to nine without being caught. With 24 steals this season, McConnell leads all freshmen in the NCAA and moved into a tie for ninth on the Spiders' single-season list.

Working with lead for just the second time, Richmond starter Stephen Owens was efficient in the sixth and seventh innings, while watching his offense build on the lead.

The Spiders tacked on three more in the sixth thanks to Mergenthaler's two-run bomb and the sophomore's bases-clearing, three-run double in the seventh gave the Spiders a 13-6 lead.

Owens, who worked seven innings with four strikeouts and no walks, allowed 10 hits and six runs (four earned), but was credited with the victory (3-2). White was knocked around for 13 hits and 10 runs over five innings and was tagged the loss (3-4).

Senior closer Brian Alas pitched two scoreless frames in a non-save situation to preserve the key A-10 win for the Spiders.

Temple capitalized on a pair of Richmond errors in the first inning and scored an unearned run to take a 1-0 lead, but Richmond answered right back in its half when Brown lifted his seventh homer of the season -- a two-run shot -- putting the Spiders in front.

Lenny DelGrippo's two-run homer in the second gave the Owls the lead back, and the visitors extended that lead to 5-2 in third. The bottom of the third saw Richmond shave the deficit to one run when Brown scored on an error and Cuppia drove in senior RF Ryan Metzroth.

Temple made it a game late, striking for four runs off senior reliever Josh Horn in the eighth, but Alas got the final six outs to squash the comeback bid.

The series continues Saturday at Pitt Field. First pitch is set for 2 p.m.