University of Richmond Athletics
No. 9 Baseball Opens the 2003 Season at the Charleston Crab House Challenge
02/19/2003 | Baseball
Feb. 19, 2003
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Richmond's baseball season begins with the Spiders' annual trip to the Charleston Crab House Challenge hosted by the Citadel. Richmond will face Drexel, N.C. State, and Kentucky in the three-game tournament.
Spider fans can follow all the weekend action with live stats. Just go the live coverage box on the right of RichmondSpiders.com and click on live stats under the baseball game.
The Spiders will face Drexel on opening day, Friday, February 21 at 1:30 p.m. Richmond holds the 3-1 series advantage over the Dragons. Richmond first played Drexel in 1929 before meeting again in a three-game series in 1994. Junior preseason All-American Tim Stauffer (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) is projected to take the mound for the Spiders. Stauffer broke five Richmond records on his way to a 15-3 season, with a 1.54 ERA, 140 strike outs in 146 innings pitched, and 13 complete games.
The longest standing series of Richmond's tournament opponents, the Wolfpack of N.C. State and the Spiders take the field on Saturday, February 22 at 1:30 p.m. N.C. State leads 25-8 in the series, with the Spiders winning the last two meetings. Since 1995, the series stands tied with both teams taking five wins. Sophomore Tim Rice (Brookfield, Conn.) is Saturday's expected starter. During his freshman campaign, Rice went 5-0, with a 4.77 ERA and 53 strike outs.
Richmond will close out the series with Kentucky in the early game on Sunday, February 23 at 10:00 a.m. The Wildcats and Spiders have meet only once before, with Kentucky taking the 1-0 advantage in a previous Charleston Crab House tournament. Senior righty Mike McGirr (Lexington, Mass.), Sunday's expected starter, went 12-1 in 2002 with a 4.06 ERA. The Massachusetts native struck out 85 batters in 108.2 innings pitched.
Veteran head coach Ron Atkins returns for his 19th year at the helm of the Spiders' program. The 2002 Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year led the Spiders to their first Regional title last year along with 11 individual and eight team records. He holds a 560-405-4 overall record and collected his 500th win on April 20, 2001 at Pitt Field against James Madison.
The road trip continues with a mid-week, Wednesday, February 26, appearance at North Carolina at 3:00 p.m. Richmond returns for its home opener the weekend of Friday, February 28 through Sunday, March 1 to host Cleveland State in a three-game set.
Baseball Picnic The Richmond department of athletics will host a picnic with the Spider team following the February 22 game against North Carolina State. The picnic will be held at the stadium and costs $10 per person. Only cash will be accepted at the event. For those that have not responded, please note that space is limited. For more information please call (804) 289-8363.
