University of Richmond Athletics
Baseball Begins Atlantic 10 Competition
03/22/2002 | Baseball
March 22, 2002
Complete Release in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
The University of Richmond baseball team (16-2, ranked No. 25 by Baseball America) will host the University of Massachusetts in a three-game weekend set. The series begins with a Saturday, Noon doubleheader on March 23 and concludes with a 1 p.m. game on Sunday, March 24.
In the Dugout ... The Spiders have outscored their opponents 50-22 in the first three innings ... The only inning UR's opponent has outscored it is the ninth (9-0) ... Richmond's last game, a 10-7 win against George Mason, was the second longest game of the year so far (2:50) ... Only one Richmond game has cleared three hours (3:09/March 8) ... The Spiders have been outhit in each of their last three games (2-1) ... Richmond has started the season 16-2 for the first time since 1995 ... That squad improved to 20-2 before suffering another loss ... Junior Vito Chiaravalloti, the reigning Atlantic 10 Player of the Week, is riding a career-long 16-game hit streak ... Junior David Reaver is enjoying a 11-game hit streak, seven away from his career best ... The 2002 season marks the first for Richmond baseball as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference ... The Spiders spent the previous 16 seasons as a member of the Colonial Athletic Association ... In addition to their conference slate, Richmond will play non-conference contests against teams from the Colonial (5), ACC (2), Big South (2), Southen (2), America East (1), Big East (1), Big 10 (1) and Horizon (1).
Welcome to the Atlantic 10 ... This weekend's series against UMass marks the debut for Richmond Spider baseball in the Atlantic 10 ... Richmond was picked to finish tied for first in the A-10's West Division (George Washington) in a preseason coaches poll ... The baseball team is the final Richmond squad to enter Atlantic 10 competition.
National Recognition ... For the first time since the 1995 season, the Richmond Spiders are ranked in a national poll ... The Spiders are currently No. 25 in the Baseball America rankings ... Richmond reached as high as No. 21 in 1995, the first-ever ranking for the Spiders.
Against the Minutemen ... The Spiders and Minutemen have split their six all-time meetings ... Richmond won the first ever meeting, 10-1, in 1955 before UMass won the next two contests ... The two teams split a two-game series in 1980 ... Last spring, Richmond defeated UMass, 5-3, on March 20 ... All six games in the series have been played in Richmond.
Three's Company ... The combination of Vito Chiaravalloti, David Reaver has spelled trouble for the opposition at Pitt Field ... The trio is hitting .430 (46-107) in the 10 home games, with eight home runs and 37 RBI ... They have accounted for almost half the RBI and 40 percent of the runs scored ... Their slugging percentage is a combined .794 while their on-base percentage is a combined .664 ... Chiaravalloti has belted Richmond's last three home runs.
On Deck ... The Spiders host James Madison in the finale of a 10-game homestand at 3 p.m. on March 26 ... Richmond then travels to William & Mary for a 7 p.m. game on March 27.
