University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
*at La Salle
Spider Baseball Holds On To Beat La Salle, 5-4
05/06/2005 | Baseball
May 6, 2005
PHILADELPHIA, Pa. - A diving catch by sophomore Lee Rattigan in left field halted a three-run ninth-inning rally by La Salle, helping the Spiders to a 5-4 win Friday in Philadelphia, Pa. The win broke Richmond's four-game skid and gave it a record of 16-25 overall and 9-7 in the conference. The Explorers, who were tied with the Spiders for third in the division going into the weekend, fell to 17-24 and 8-8 in the conference.
La Salle's starter, Dan Waters, faced one over the minimum in the first four before the Spiders got on track in the fifth. Sophomore Matt McKenna began Richmond's three-run fifth with a solo homerun, his third of the season, over the left field wall. Five batters later junior Ben Zeskind drove in two with a double to left center scoring freshman Joe White and sophomore Vince Riggi.
The Spiders added another in the sixth when junior Andrew Justice reached with a single to lead off the inning. After Justice advanced to third on two wild pitches, White came to the plate with two outs and drove a single up the middle to plate the run.
The Explorers could not manage much of anything off Richmond's Rob Berzinskas. The righthander gave up a one-out double in the first then proceeded to retire the next eight he faced. In the fourth, Berzinskas walked two to begin the inning and saw an error committed to load the bases with one out. He got a flyout to left, but a strong throw from White kept the runners from moving. La Salle's next hitter, John Vincent, drove a high fly to the left center gap, but Zeskind tracked it down and made a diving catch which stranded all three.
Berzinskas retired nine of the next 10 he faced heading into the eighth, still working on a one-hit shutout. A walk to lead off the eighth was proceeded by two outs, but a single into left broke up the shutout.
Justice added what proved to the be the winning run in the eighth when he homered with one out in the inning. The Spiders opted for their bullpen in the ninth, but it did not fare well. After freshman Brian Alas got the first hitter to ground out, he proceeded to give up three-straight basehits, one of which was a two-run double.
Richmond again went to its bullpen and brought in senior John Cronin. The closer walked the first hitter he faced then threw a wild pitch to allow the third run of the inning to score. With runners at second and third Cronin walked the next hitter by throwing ball four in the dirt. As the pitch reached the backstop the runner at third made a break for home, but was caught trying to steal. With two outs, La Salle's Billy Kern sent a line drive into left, but Rattigan, who was shaded toward center, tracked it down with a diving catch toward the line.
The Spiders and Explorers wrap up the three-game series Saturday, May 7, with a doubleheader at noon in Philadelphia, Pa. Junior Ja Jones will be on the mound in game one, and freshman Stephen Owens is the scheduled starter for game two.
Game Notes
- Sophomore Rob Berzinskas snapped a four-game losing skid. His win today was the first since March 26 against Temple.
- Senior John Cronin 0.2 innings of work gave him the Spider all-time career record for appearances (74).
- Sophomore Matt McKenna extended his hit streak to seven game with a homerun in the fifth.
- Freshman Alex Hale recorded his second-straight multi-hit game.
