University of Richmond Athletics
A Rivalry Renewed, Baseball takes on William & Mary and VCU
03/11/2003 | Baseball
March 11, 2003
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Spiders entertain former CAA foes William and Mary and VCU during this week's baseball lineup. Richmond will play two games at Pitt Field and two at the Diamond.
Richmond hosts the Tribe on Wednesday, March 12 at 2:30 p.m. In one of oldest rivalries, which dates back to 1895, Richmond leads the Tribe 139-68-1. Last year's the Spiders swept William and Mary in both games, 7-4 and 4-2.
Over the weekend, the Spiders will play a three-game series with cross-town and former CAA rival VCU. Richmond will head to the Diamond on Friday, March 14 at 4:00 p.m. and Sunday, March 16 at 2:00 p.m. On Saturday, the Rams will travel to Pitt Field for a 1:00 p.m. showdown.
The Spiders hold a one-game series lead over the Rams, 29-28. Last year's two wins snapped VCU's four-game winning streak from 2000-01. Richmond triumphed 2-1 and 12-11 in the 2002 nail-biters.
The Following are some Game Notes for the Week:
IN THE DUGOUT
Richmond improved to 8-0 at home and 10-1 overall ... Freshman sensation Ben Zeskind tallied a 9-game hit streak, the longest for any Spider this season ... Zeskind also leads the squad with an .405 batting average ... Seven Spiders have a plus .300 average ... Spider pitchers have struck out 104 batters, averaging 9.45 a game ... Junior Tim Stauffer leads the bullpen with 36 strikeouts ... Richmond has turned 14 double plays, but only been caught in four ... The Spiders enter their second year as a member of the Atlantic 10 ... They claimed the regular-season West Division title after posting a league-record 22-2 mark ... For the month of March, 17 of the Spiders games are home ... Richmond will play just seven away from Pitt Field ... Two of those contests do not leave city limits, and four stay within state lines.
NATIONAL PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Junior right-hander Tim Stauffer (2-0) earned "Louisville Slugger's" National Player of the Week for March 10th. The award is given by Collegiate Baseball. Stauffer received the award after setting a career-high 15 strikeouts in Richmond's 3-1 win over Princeton on March 8. Prior to the record-setting outing, Stauffer hurled his first complete game of the season in a 2-1 win over Virginia on March 3. He struck out 13, allowing six hits and one earned run. The preseason All-American currently leads the squad in strikeouts (36), while only walking three for the year. He carries a 2.45 ERA after three starts and 22.0 innings pitched. Richmond's ace joins teammate Vito Chiaravalloti and major-leaguer Sean Casey as Spiders to earn the honor.
ON DECK
Richmond continues its home-stand Tuesday through Thursday, with three games against Radford, Towson, and Old Dominion. Tuesday's Radford match-up is set for 3:00 p.m., while Towson's Wednesday and Old Dominion's Thursday contests are set for 2:30 p.m. Following the mid-week games, the Spiders enter Atlantic 10 conference action. Richmond hosts Temple in a 3-game series on Saturday, March 22 and Sunday, March. 23.
SPIDER COMPARISON
With 11 games under their belt, the 2003 squad's record (10-1) is identical to the 2002 squad's (10-1). Richmond's stats through 11 games are also very similar. For 2003 - 67 runs, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 13 home runs, 14 stolen bases. For 2002 - 70 runs, 20 doubles, 3 triples, 12 home runs, 15 stolen bases. Both the 1995 and 2002 squads started the season 5-0, which the 2003 team also matched. Richmond's longest winning streak for 2003 is 5, while 2002's was 10. Under head coach Ron Atkins, the longest winning streak is 12-0 from the 1995 season. The longest winning streak on the record-books dates to 1935 with 14.
