University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Baseball Hosts George Washington In Final Atlantic 10 Home Series Of 2005
04/15/2005 | Baseball
April 15, 2005
Complete Spider Baseball Series Notes in PDF Format
Download Free Acrobat Reader
Richmond (14-19, 7-5) hosts George Washington (19-11, 3-3) - April 16-17
Site: Pitt Field (600) - Richmond, Va.
Game Times: Saturday (DH) - Noon, Sunday - Noon
Rankings: Richmond is not ranked. George Washington is not ranked.
Coaches: Richmond's Ron Atkins is 655-463-4 in his 21st season at Richmond and overall. Steve Mrowka is 19-11 in his first season with the Colonials and 426-242-2 in his 12th season overall.
Pressbox Phone: Richmond - 804.287.8714
Audio: Bob Black and Simon Gray will call Saturday's first game on ESPN Radio 950 in the Richmond area and on ESPN950am.com. Black and Gray will be on the air at noon.
Internet: Gametracker will be available for all three games.
Gametracker - Saturday (Game One)
Gametracker - Saturday (Game Two)
Gametracker - Sunday
Television: None
Richmond's Tentative Rotation
Saturday - Game One: Rob Berzinskas, RHP, So. (2-4, 3.28 ERA)
Saturday - Game Two: Ja Jones, RHP, Jr. (2-2, 4.87 ERA)
Sunday: Stephen Owens, RHP, Fr. (1-2, 3.69 ERA)
The Atlantic 10 Series Against George Washington
Spider baseball (14-19, 7-5) will look to right its ship against George Washington (19-11, 3-3) this weekend at Pitt Field in its last Atlantic 10 home series of 2005. Saturday's doubleheader will get underway at noon and the first game will be broadcast on ESPN Radio 950. Sunday's single nine-inning contest will also start at noon.
George Washington has won its last two and six of its last seven. Last weekend the Colonials evened their conference mark with a 2-1 series win against St. Bonaventure. George Washington, currently a game back of the Spiders in the A-10 West, are led by Ryan Roberson's .423 average which is also tops in the league. The senior is tied for the team lead in homers (9) and ranks second on the team with 35 runs driven in. Roberson is also perfect in the stolen bases, leading the team and the A-10 with 13 in 13 attempts.
The Colonials will send Derrik Lutz, Dan Sullivan and Josh Wilkie to the hill this weekend. Combined the three hurlers are 9-5 and have struckout 110. Lutz is among the A-10 leaders in pitching with a 3.02 ERA in 41.2 innings.
The Spiders will be following junior Ben Zeskind's lead. The Miami, Fla, native has been on fire as of late. Zeskind has a nine-game hit streak going into the weekend and has a hit in 19 of the last 20, and 22 of the last 24. The centerfielder currently leads the team with a .354 average and has a .981 fielding percentage in 103 chances.
Richmond will send sophomore Rob Berzinskas, junior Ja Jones and freshman Stephen Owens to the bump in the three-game set. Berzinskas and Jones did not fare well last weekend against Rhode Island, combining to allow 15 runs on 14 hits in 4.2 innings. Owens has been the most impressive of the three. He has limited opponents to just one run on eight hits over his last 7.2 innings of relief. In his most recent start, Owens fanned a career-best eight and limited St. Bonaventure to four runs on six hits in 5.1 innings.
Spiders Suffer First-Ever Sweep By A-10 Opponent
Richmond was on the losing end of a sweep for the first time since joining the Atlantic 10 Conference last weekend at Rhode Island. The Spiders walked out of Bill Beck Field losers of three-straight to the Rams, and have now dropped the last eight overall. Rhode Island outscored the Spiders 33-6 and outhit a struggling Richmond club .417 to .169.
The Spiders now have a losing all-time record to two Atlantic 10 teams -- St. Bonaventure (2-4) and Rhode Island (3-5). Overall, Richmond still holds a commanding 65-18 mark over all Atlantic 10 teams combined.
What Happened To Them
Richmond's starting pitching had been phenomenal going into the Rhode Island series. Three games certainly can change things. In the three contests against the Rams, the Spiders' starters combined to work just 6.2 innings and register an ERA of 28.35. In the three previous A-10 series the Spider starters worked two complete games and a total of 57.1 innings. The ERA for the three starters in the previous nine A-10 games was a combined 1.88.
Silent Bats
Going into the contest against William & Mary, March 30, the Spiders were hitting .265 and since have dropped to .250, going 75-for-346 (.217) in the last 11. Another offensive futility indicator is the run production. Over the first 22 the Spiders averaged 4.8 RBI per game. In the last 11 Richmond has driven in just 2.3 per game. The Spiders are having trouble getting on base in the last 11, sporting an on-base percentage of .273 dating back to March 30. Prior to that point Richmond had an on-base percentage of .346.
In Case You Wanted To Know
- Freshman Alex Hale has reached base each of his last 18 games. Occasionally Hale will switch battery positions to close games for the Spiders. In those situations he is 1-0 and has a 1.08 ERA in 8.1 innings.
- Junior Ben Zeskind's is currently unconscious, the Miami, Fla., native holds a nine-game hit streak. More impressive, the centerfielder has garnered a hit in 19 of the last 20, and 22 of the last 24.
- Zeskind's current nine-game hit streak has included seven multi-hit contests, including a current string of two going 2-for-4 against George Mason and James Madison earlier this week.
- Junior Andrew Justice led the Spiders in hitting for almost two months and has now fallen to the second spot in batting average. The Henderson, N.C., native snapped an eight-game hit streak during the Rhode Island series and now follows Zeskind with an average of .331.
- Richmond's current eight-game losing streak is the longest since the 1986 season when the Spiders lost 10-straight contests. The `86 streak started with a 27-1 loss at Columbus College March 8, and ended with a 13-9 loss to Liberty March 18. The streak was snapped with a 10-3 win against William & Mary March 19. Later that season Richmond won the Colonial Athletic Association Tournament to earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament for the first time under Ron Atkins.
Former Spiders Break Camp In The Pros
A host of former Spiders appear on current Major and Minor League rosters. Leading the way are Sean Casey and Brian Jordan. Casey is hitting .265 through eight games with the Cincinnati Reds. Jordan, who rejoined the Atlanta Braves this season, is hitting .167 with a homer, four RBI and a stolen base.
Two Spiders are a step away from the big leagues, Mark Budzinski is part of the Scranton Red Barons (AAA) outfield. Tim Stauffer, a first round draft pick in 2003, has skyrocketed to the Triple-A level with the San Diego Padres in Portland. At the Double-A level Matt Craig is on the West Tennessee Diamond Jaxx roster (Chicago Cubs) and Vito Chiaravalotti jumped one level from last season to the New Hampshire Fisher Cats (Toronto Blue Jays).
Last season, Jim Fasano and Bobby LeNoir were mainstays in the Richmond lineup, this season they are at the Single-A level in the Texas Rangers organization. LeNoir is listed as an infielder on the Advanced-A level Bakersfield Blaze roster. Fasano is roaming first base for the Clinton Lumberkings in the Low-A level.
