University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Liberty
Baseball Doubles Up Liberty, 12-6
04/29/2003 | Baseball
April 29, 2003
LYNCHBURG, Va. - Richmond stroked 14 hits behind the bats of first baseman Jim Fasano (Horsham, Pa.), leftfielder Michael Galligan (Woodbury, N.Y.), and third baseman David Thomas (McLean, Va.) in the 12-6 win over Liberty at Worthington Stadium. Joining the trio, junior catcher Adam Tidball (Bethesda, Md.) blasted his third homer of the season in his four-RBI day. The Spiders scored in every inning except the seventh to improve to 35-8, 14-3 Atlantic 10, while Liberty falls to 14-29.
In the first frame, centerfielder Bryan Pritz (Wilmette, Ill.) stroked a leadoff single and advanced on a throwing error by Flames third baseman to second. Designated hitter Ben Zeskind (Miami, Fla.) then belted a double down the left field line to score Pritz.
Tidball ripped a two-out shot over the left field fence in the second. Second baseman Bobby LeNoir continued the inning, reaching base on a walk, stealing second, advancing to third on a Pritz infield single, and crossing home on a David Reaver (Union Bridge, Md.) single down the left field line.
Richmond added another run for a 4-0 lead in the third. Fasano (2-for-3) drew a leadoff walk, advanced to second on a Galligan (3-for-4) single, and touched home on a Thomas (3-for-5) one-bagger.
Liberty responded in its half of the third with three runs to cut the Richmond lead to 4-3. Daniel Bote stroked a double and scored when Derek Cantrell reached base on a Spider error. Cantrell and David Bechtold added two runs on a Jeremiah Boles double.
In the fourth and fifth frames, Liberty matched the Spiders runs with both squads tacking on three for a 7-6 Richmond lead. In the top of the fourth Zeskind worked a two-out walk, advanced to third on a Liberty pick-off attempt error, and touched home on a Fasano single up the middle for a 5-3 lead. The Flames added a run, scoring Josh Hirt on a wild pitch.
Galligan and Thomas stroked back-to-back singles and then advanced to second and third on a passed ball before Galligan touched home on a RBI groundout by Tidball in the fifth frame. LeNoir followed with a RBI single to score Thomas. The Flames responded again, tacking on two runs in their half. Cantrell and Larry Wayne York scored for Liberty in the three-hit frame.
Fasano blasted his 13th home run of the season over the right field fence to score Zeskind in the sixth. Vito Chiaravalloti (Middletown, N.J.) then drew the second walk of the inning, stole both second and third before touching home on another Tidball groundout for a 10-6 lead.
The Spiders tacked on a run in the 8th for an 11-6 advantage. Fasano drew a leadoff walk and advanced to second on Chiaravalloti's walk, before scoring on a Tidball sacrifice fly. Richmond finished the outing with a final run in the ninth for a 12-6 win. Pritz reached on a throwing error by York and advanced to second. He then took third on another Liberty failed pickoff attempt error before scoring on a wild pitch.
Richmond's southpaw Nate Kuchta (Victor, N.Y.) earned his first win after throwing 5.0 innings. Kuchta (1-0) struck out three and allowed six hits. Sophomore lefty Tim Rice (Brookfield, Conn.) hurled 3.0 innings of relief work before handing the ball over to John Cronin (Branford, Conn.) for the final frame. Rice and Cronin combined to allow two hits while fanning two in the outing. Liberty's Jon Banke (0-5) took the loss after 4.0 innings and 11 hits.
Richmond returns to action at Pitt Field tomorrow, April 30 in a 2 p.m. match-up against cross-town rival VCU.
