University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Liberty
Spiders Stumble Against Liberty At Home, 14-6
04/19/2005 | Baseball
April 19, 2005
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The Spider baseball squad gave up 14 runs over the first four innings of Tuesday's contest against Liberty, and could not come back, falling 14-6 to the Flames. The loss at Pitt Field drops Richmond to 15-22 overall, while Liberty improves to 23-11.
Richmond gave sophomore Rob Berzinskas the rare nod in midweek action hoping to keep the Flames off the scoreboard early. The Spiders' number one did not fare well giving up five runs on five hits in just 1.1 innings. Liberty chased the righthander after he allowed two homers in the second inning, and recorded only one out.
Junior Ja Jones took over in the inning and proceeded to allow three-straight hits, a walk and a run before a lineout double-play ended the inning.
Junior Andrew Justice gave the Spiders life in the bottom half of the first after Berzinskas allowed Liberty to take the lead. Justice tied the score with Richmond's first game-tying homer of the season.
After the Flames pushed their five across in the second off Berzinskas and Jones, they added two more in the third off freshman David Solan.
The Spiders answered in the bottom half of the third when freshman Austin Reilly broke out of his 0-for-21 slump with a leadoff double to left center. Junior Ben Zeskind followed with his team-leading sixth homerun of the season to make the score 8-3.
Liberty took command in the fourth scoring six runs on four hits and three walks by Solan to make the score, 14-3. The freshman lefthander settled down after the big fourth inning and scattered two hits over the next three shutting out the Flames and giving way to junior Lee Rattigan.
After back-to-back singles from sophomore Anthony Sandstrom and Reilly in the seventh, Zeskind garnered his third RBI of the day with a single in the hole at short. In the eighth sophomore Matt McKenna drove his second of the year over the left field wall scoring freshman Joe Mahoney who reached on an error.
Rattigan closed the door on the Flames by retiring in the side in eighth and stranding one after giving up a hit in the ninth. It was not enough as the Spiders managed only a single from Zeskind in their half of the ninth to fall 14-6.
Richmond hits the road for the first of a nine-game road trip Wednesday, April 20. The Spiders will face James Madison at Long Field in Harrisonburg, Va., at 3 p.m., tomorrow before heading to Dayton for a three-game Atlantic 10 series this weekend.
Game Notes
- Junior Ben Zeskind has garnered a hit in each of his last 13 and has recorded multiple hits in each of the last six contests. The outfielder is leading the squad with a .379 average.
- Freshman Austin Reilly broke an 0-for-21 slump by going 2-for-4 with a run scored today.
- Junior Andrew Justice hit the first game-tying homerun of the season for Richmond in the bottom of the first inning.
- The Spiders have now lost the last three to Liberty and are 22-14 all-time against the Flames.
