University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
*George Washington
Baseball Falls In Home Doubleheader Against George Washington
04/16/2005 | Baseball
April 16, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Richmond baseball squad fell for the ninth and 10th-straight time Saturday, losing both games in an Atlantic 10 doubleheader against George Washington, 2-1 and 4-3. The two losses at Pitt Field drop the team's record to 14-21 overall and 7-7 in the conference. The Colonials improve to 21-11 overall and 5-3 in the Atlantic 10. The Spiders have now equaled their longest losing streak under head coach Ron Atkins at 10 games. The last time a Spider club lost 10 consecutive came during the 1986 season.
GAME 1
The Colonials struck in the first when a wild pitch allowed a run to cross the plate for a 1-0 lead. Geoff Milsom singled with one out in the inning then moved to second on a walk and later stole third. The wild pitch also moved the tail runner to third, but sophomore Rob Berzinskas stranded it at third by retiring two straight.
GW posted its final run of the game in the third off an RBI-single from Tom Shanley. Brad Rosenblat singled with one out then moved to second on a walk. Shanley came to the plate and hit a screamer to the left side on a hit-and-run attempt. Freshman shortstop Austin Reilly knocked it down, but Rosenblat raced around third for the infield RBI.
The Spiders desperately needed baserunners the entire game. Junior Ben Zeskind led off the game with a double, but was stranded by three-straight outs. After Zeskind's double, George Washington starter Derrick Lutz retired 17-straight before Zeskind again doubled in the sixth.
Berzinskas was just as impressive over the last four-plus innings. The righthander retired 14 consecutive hitters after giving up the run-scoring single in the third. Richmond tried to get its pitcher a win by showing some life in the seventh. Junior Andrew Justice singled to lead off the inning then moved to second on a fielder's choice error by GW's Milsom. Freshman Joe White moved the runners up with a sac-bunt, and sophomore pinch-hitter Anthony Sandstrom garnered the Spiders' first pinch-hit RBI with a groundout to second. The rally was halted as sophomore Matt McKenna grounded out to third ending the game at 2-1.
Lutz picked up the win by allowing an unearned run on three hits and one walk. The righthander struck out six for GW. Berzinskas suffered his fifth loss (2-5) after fanning a career-best 10 in his second complete game of the season. Richmond's hurler also gave up just three hits, walked two and allowed three runs.
Game Notes
- Sophomore Rob Berzinskas struck out a career-best 10 batters, but dropped to 2-5 with the loss.
- Sophomore Anthony Sandstrom garnered Richmond's first pinch-hit RBI of the season.
- The Spiders are now 6-3 in one-run contests.
- Junior Ben Zeskind has now hit in each of his last 10 games and has recorded multiple hits in each of the last three.
GAME 2
George Washington again took the early lead, this time in the second on a two-run single off the bat of Michael Parker. Richmond answered in the bottom half of the third when McKenna sent his first of the season over the leftfield wall to make it 2-1.
Junior Ja Jones, who retired three straight in the third, looked to have two outs in the fourth, when Justice dropped a fly ball down the rightfield line allowing Bill Simpson to reach second. After the second out of the inning pushed Simpson to third, Josh Goldberg singled to score the unearned run giving GW a 3-1 lead.
The Colonials tacked on one more in the fifth when Rosenblat homered to left. Richmond pulled to within one in the sixth by loading the bases with one out. Justice and freshman Joe Mahoney led off the inning with consecutive singles then moved up one base on a wild pitch. With one out Sandstrom forced a walk, giving way to the Colonial bullpen. Sophomore pinch-hitter Vince Riggi was sent down swinging by GW reliever Dan Pfau. The next batter, McKenna, swung and missed to inside breaking balls, but did not miss on the third roping a two-run double down the leftfield line.
Jones finished off the seventh thanks to great Richmond defense. With two outs and Milsom at first, Shanley scorched a double off the glove of Mahoney at first. With the ball rolling down the fence line in right, Milsom rounded third as Justice fired a rope to Mahoney, who relayed it to freshman Alex Hale in time to get the runner at the plate.
Zeskind led off the seventh with a single up the middle, but White grounded a 1-2 pitch to the first baseman who turned a double-play. Justice then flew out to end the Spiders' chances and the game 4-3.
Dan Sullivan picked up the win for George Washington by giving up three runs on seven hits and a walk in 5.1 innings. He also struck out six. Jones suffered the loss and fell to 2-3. The righthander allowed four runs (three earned) on 10 hits. He struck out two and did not give up a walk.
Richmond will wrap up its final home Atlantic 10 series of the season, Sunday, April 17 with a single game against the Colonials at noon.
Game Notes
- Junior Ben Zeskind extended his hit streak to a season-long 11 games. The Miami, Fla., native has garnered multiple hits in each of the last four.
- Sophomore Matt McKenna recorded multiple hits for the first time since March 27 and drove in multiple runs for the first time since March 15.
- Richmond is now 6-4 in one-run games.
- The Spiders' 10-game losing streak equals the longest in head coach Ron Atkins' 21-year tenure.
