May 21, 2007
#3 Richmond (30-26, 18-9)
at the
2007 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship
First Round: vs. #6 St. Bonaventure (25-25, 14-12)
Wednesday, May 23, 2007 • 3:30 p.m. ET
Fifth Third Field • Dayton, Ohio
Live Audio | Live Video | Gametracker
Richmond Game Notes
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Quick Hitters:
Richmond begins the quest for its second Atlantic 10 Championship crown when the Spiders battle St. Bonaventure Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Fifth Third Field in Dayton, Ohio. The Spiders own the third-seed by way of their 18-9 record in A-10 play, while the Bonnies find themselves seeded sixth after going 14-12.
The winner of this game advances to face second-seeded Fordham Thursday at 3:30 p.m in the quarterfinals of the winners bracket. The loser must play again Wednesday night at 7 p.m. in an elimination game against the loser of the Xavier vs. Rhode Island contest.
After a one year absence, the Spiders are back in the A-10 Baseball Championship. This marks their fifth appearance since joining the conference six years ago. Richmond won the 2003 tournament a year after reaching the A-10 championship series. The Spiders and Bonnies have met just once in Championship play. That came in the 2004 semifinals when SBU sent Richmond to the losers bracket by a 10-9 score.
Richmond is 10-7 (.588) all-time in A-10 Championship play, having won at least two games in each of its four previous apperances. The Spiders lost their opening game in 2003 and then rattled off four straight wins to capture their first title.
The Spiders reached the 30-win plateau for the 10th time in the 23-year career of head coach Ron Atkins and the first time since 2004. Their 18 wins in conference play are the most since the 2003 Spiders went 19-4 and finished first in the regular season.
When Richmond last reached the A-10 Championship in 2005 (also in Dayton), eight Spiders on the active roster saw action. Matt McKenna took advantge of the big park and batted .333 with two doubles, a triple and 7 RBI. Then-staring picther Brian Alas went 6.0 innings with four strikeouts and one earmed run to beat Fordham 4-1 in the first round.
