University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Look for First A-10 Championship, No. 18 Baseball host UMass in Title Series
05/20/2003 | Baseball
May 20, 2003
Video: Previews of this week's A-10 Tournament Final:
Tim Stauffer
RealVideo | Windows Media
Jim Fasano
RealVideo | Windows Media
Ronnie Atkins
RealVideo | Windows Media
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Unfinished Business - That's the motto for the Spiders this weekend as they host the Atlantic 10 Championship and vie for the league's automatic bid to the NCAA's for the second year in a row.
Richmond, the number one seed and two-time West Division Champions, will entertain the number two-seeded Minutemen of Massachusetts, co-East Division Champions, in a best-of-three series at Pitt Field from Thursday, May 22 through Saturday, May 24. First Pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. on Thursday and Friday, while Saturday's game, if necessary, is set for Noon.
You can catch all the action at Pitt Field locally on WVNZ-AM 1320 or worldwide on the Internet at RichmondSpiders.com. Live stats will also be provided for the duration of the title series.
Last year the Spiders hosted the A-10 Championships, but fell to George Washington before advancing to the Super-Regionals and capturing the first Regional title in program history. This year, Richmond advanced to the A-10 title series after coming back to win two games in the consolidation bracket. The squad dropped a close one to Xavier, 2-1, to fall into the elimination bracket on Friday, May 16. Richmond responded the next day, Saturday, May 17, with wins over George Washington, 8-2, and Xavier, 6-3, to earn a spot in the finals.
UMass and Richmond did not meet in regular-season action this year, but the Spiders swept the Minutemen in 2002. Overall, these squads have played each other only nine times, with Richmond holding a 6-3 advantage.
Spiders' ace Tim Stauffer (Saratoga Springs, N.Y.) is expected to start on Thursday, May 22. The two-time consecutive Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year, Golden Spikes Award finalist, and Smith Award semifinalist carries a 2.02 ERA with 130 strikeouts and 14 walks in 98.0 innings. On Friday, All A-10 first-team senior Mike McGirr (Lexington, Mass.) will take the mound for Richmond. McGirr holds an 8-1 record with a 2.30 ERA.
Complete Results of the A-10 Tournament follow below:
Thursday, May 15, Dodd Memorial Stadium, Norwich, Conn. Game #1 - #5 Xavier 6, #4 Duquesne 3 Game #2 - #6 George Washington 7, #3 Rhode Island 2 Game #3 - Rhode Island 3, Duquesne 2 (Duquesne eliminated)Friday, May 16, Dodd Memorial Stadium, Norwich, Conn. Game #4 - Xavier 2, #1 Richmond 1 Game #5 - #2 Massachusetts 3, George Washington 1 Game #6 - George Washington 8, Rhode Island 4 (Rhode Island eliminated)
Saturday, May 17, Dodd Memorial Stadium, Norwich, Conn. Game #7 - Massachusetts 8, Xavier 5 Game #8 - Richmond 8, George Washington 2 (George Washington eliminated) Game #9 - Richmond 6, Xavier 3 (Xavier eliminated)
Thursday, May 22, Pitt Field, University of Richmond, Va. Game #10 - Richmond vs. Massachusetts, 1:00 p.m.
Friday, May 23, Pitt Field, University of Richmond, Va. Game #11 - Richmond vs. Massachusetts, 1:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 24, Pitt Field, University of Richmond, Va. Game #12 - Richmond vs. Massachusetts, 12:00 p.m. (if necessary)
