University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host George Washington In Last Home Series Of 2006
05/11/2006 | Baseball
May 11, 2006
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Richmond will host its final home series of the 2006 season, May 12-14, when the George Washington Colonials come to Pitt Field. Friday's game has been moved back to 3 p.m., while Saturday's contest is slated for 1 p.m. Sunday's series finale will be played at 10 a.m. to accommodate the 2006 Commencement Ceremonies later that afternoon in the Robins Center. Richmond baseball will celebrate its class of six seniors prior to Saturday's first pitch, which will be thrown out by 1966 Spider baseball alum Winston Blenckstone.
Both squads come into the weekend fighting for a spot in the Atlantic 10 Conference tournament. Tied for seventh, Richmond is just two percentage points in front of George Washington which is in ninth place with a mark of 9-10 in the league. With two Conference series remaining in the season, every win will help the Spiders' chances come tournament time.
The Spiders will send their two regular Friday and Saturday starters to the mound this weekend. Senior Ja Jones will get the ball in the series-opener Friday, after suffering a 4-2 loss at La Salle last Friday. Sophomore Alex Hale will go for the Spiders Saturday. The Omaha, Neb., native is 6-2 this season after earning a come-from-behind win last Saturday over the Explorers in Philadelphia. Sunday's Spider starter is still to be determined.
Quick Notes...
-- Richmond is 61-37 in the all-time series with the Colonials. The Spiders and GW locked horns five times last season -- three in the regular season and twice in the Atlantic 10 Conference Tournament. George Washington was victorious in three of the five meetingsin 2005.
-- The Spiders have won four of their seven Atlantic 10 Conference series this season, and are 3-1 in A-10 series at Pitt Field.
-- Richmond hit .328 in 21 games during the month of April. The Spiders garnered 159 hits during the month, more than its combined hit totals from February, March and the four games thus far in May. Richmond also garnered 87 extra-basehits during the month of April, including 28 homers for a slugging percentage of .521.
-- The Spiders are hitting .302 at Pitt Field this season, and have a slugging percentage of .453 at the Pitt. In 29 games at their home park, The Spiders have an on-base percentage of .390 and have stolen 32 of 41 bases.
-- Richmond is 3-2 in its last five games and 6-4 in its last 10. The Spiders have yet to win more than two-consecutive games this season, and have alternated wins and losses over their last nine contests.
-- With seven regular season games remaining on the schedule, senior Ben Zeskind has the opportunity to take over the all-time career top spots on Richmond's hits, doubles and triples list. The Miami, Fla., native is 11 hits away from taking over the all-time record of 308. He is currently tied for the lead in career triples (12) and doubles (67), one more in each category will give him sole possession of the all-time career record in the categories.
-- Sophomore Brian Alas has appeared in 24 games this season, second-most in single-season school history. Former Spider John Cronin holds the all-time single-season mark with 30 in 2004.
-- Richmond is currently in a tie for seventh place in the Atlantic 10 standings. Along side the Spiders is Duquesne, which Richmond holds the tie-breaker over. According to winning percentage, Richmond is just two points ahead of George Washington in ninth place, but tied with them when looking at games. The Spiders are a game back of Fordham in sixth and three back of Saint Louis and Charlotte in a tie for fourth.
-- Sophomore Joe Mahoney has a season-best 13-game hitting streak going into the series. The Troy, N.Y., native has bettered his single-season numbers from his freshman season in nearly every category. In fewer at-bats than last year, Mahoney has eight more hits, four more doubles, scored 14 more runs, driven in six more runs, walked six more times and struckout 16 times fewer. He is also hitting nearly 85 points higher than his end-of-the-year average of .268 in 2005.
-- Senior Ben Zeskind has reached base in each of the last 36 games this season for Richmond. Earlier this season he turned in a 21-game hit streak, but now has a four-game streak which includes three multi-hit contests. The Miami, Fla., native reached base at least once in every game the Spiders played April (21 games).
-- Twelve of the Spiders' 20 wins have been in come-from-behind fashion, while half of their 10 A-10 wins have been come-from-behind efforts.
-- The Spider offense has posted an average of 5.43 runs in sophomore Ja Jones.
-- Richmond relief pitchers are allowing just 39 percent of inherited runners to cross the plate (46/119).
-- Richmond's three-run come-from-behind win last Saturday at La Salle marked the largest deficit through nine innings overcome by the Spiders. Richmond had fought back from as many as six to pick up a win in three contests.
-- Sophomore Alex Hale is ranked 36th in the country, striking out 10.2 batters per nine innings of work.
-- The Spiders offense, which leads the league in A-10 games with 162 runs scored, is 83rd in the nation averaging 6.7 runs per game. Richmond is second in the overall league standings with 315 runs in 48 games.
-- Richmond's win at No. 25 Old Dominion marked its first over a ranked opponent since June 8, 2002. Richmond was playing the nationally ranked Nebraska Cornhuskers at Hawks Field/Haymarket Park in the 2002 NCAA Super Regionals. After the Huskers took the first game of the best-of-three set, Richmond roared back to post a 6-2 series-knotting victory.
Zeskind On A Record-Breaking Pace
Senior Ben Zeskind has been a on a record-breaking pace in this his final collegiate season. The Miami, Fla., native is tied for the all-time Richmond lead in triples (12) and doubles (67). He is 10 away from equaling and 11 from breaking the all-time Spider hits record of 307 held by David Reaver. With seven regular-season games remaining, Zeskind must average 1.57 hits per game in order to break the record. Currently Zeskind has 24 multi-hit games out of the Spiders' 48 games this season. The Spiders' centerfielder has played in every game in 2006 and has a total of 76 hits for an average of 1.58 hits per game.
It's Crunch Time In The A-10 Race
The Spiders are facing crunch time when it comes to making the Atlantic 10 Championships. Richmond is currently in a tie for seventh-place, just outside of the field of six, which makes the league's postseason event. The top six are determined by winning percentage, as the Spiders are currently 10-11 (.476), and hold a tie breaker over Duquesne who is also in seventh.
When looking at games back, Richmond is five back of league-leaders Rhode Island and Dayton, 4.5 back of St. Bonaventure in third, three back of Saint Louis (4th) and Charlotte (5th) and one back of Fordham (6th). Scoreboard watching is bound to happen as Dayton is at Fordham this weekend, and Charlotte is at Duquesne. The Spiders can help themselves against the Colonials, a team within percentage points of the top six spots.
Zeskind Making Case For A-10 Player Of The Year
Senior Ben Zeskind is making a charge at Atlantic 10 Player of the Year honors. The Richmond centerfielder who has been named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference second team as a freshman and junior, currently ranks among the Top-5 in 10 overall league offensive categories, including leading the league in hits (76), total bases (125) and at-bats (202).
The switch-hitting, Miami, Fla., native is tops in five league-only offensive categories including average (.433), runs scored (30), hits (42), total bases 974) and at-bats (97). He ranks among the Top-5 in 10 league-only offensive categories.
In Richmond's past three games, Zeskind has been responsible all three go-ahead RBI, including a three-run homer in the ninth of game two at La Salle, a solo homer in the tenth of game three against the Explorers and a two-run double in the fourth against Old Dominion. The three-run homer and two-run double both proved to be game-winners for the Spiders.
Zeskind Recognized By The A-10 And College Baseball Foundation
Senior Ben Zeskind was honored by the Atlantic 10 and the College Baseball Foundation after going 14-for-23 (.609) in five games from April 17-23. He was named A-10 Player of the Week and listed as one of the CBF's Honor Roll Players of the Week, after hitting .667 (10-for-15) in the weekend series against Duquesne. He recorded multiple hits in all five games over the course of the week. He scored a team-high 12 runs in the five games, crossing the plate multiple times in all five contests. The Miami, Fla., native drove in eight on the week, and had a slugging percentage of 1.174 in the five games. The senior recorded at least one extra-basehit in all five contests including three homers, one triple and two doubles. The centerfielder's three homers continued a string of what is now four homers in his last eight games. The Spiders' leadoff hitter had a team-high on-base percentage of .654 over the week, garnering three walks and a total of 14 hits. He was also 2-for-4 in stolen bases on the week.
Spider Baseball On ESPN Radio 950
As many as five Richmond Spider baseball contests will broadcast in the Richmond area on the new home of the Spiders, ESPN Radio 950 AM. Each of the Spiders' five home Atlantic 10 openers will be carried on the local Richmond station and will also be available on RichmondSpiders.com. Games to be broadcast over the airwaves include: March 31 - UMass, April 7 - Dayton, April 21 - Duquesne, April 28 - Saint Joseph's and May 12 - George Washington.
Richmond And Dayton Run Up The Score
It was not a typical Friday night college baseball game at Pitt Field, April 7. The Spiders and Flyers combined to score 44 runs on 43 hits, as Dayton won 27-17 in a game which lasted 4:01. Ten total pitchers gave up a combined five game-tying RBI, six go-ahead RBI, three game-tying homeruns, four go-ahead homers and seven total homers. The two teams combined to record eight hit by pitches, marking the fourth-most in a single game in NCAA history. Spider pitchers hit seven batters which was also marked the fourth-most HBP's in a single game in NCAA history.
Ian Marshall Named Co-Pitcher And Rookie Of The Week By Atlantic 10 Conference
Freshman Ian Marshall was recently honored for his accomplishments on the diamond during the week of April 17-23, by being awarded Atlantic 10 Co-Pitcher and Rookie of the Week. The freshman from Gaithersburg, Md., who was drafted in the 14th round following his high school career by the New York Mets, recorded the Spiders' first complete game since May 7, 2005, firing a three-hit shutout.
The righthander helped the Spiders sweep a Sunday doubleheader against Atlantic 10 foe Duquesne by scattering just three hits, while shutting out the Dukes. Marshall allowed two hits in the first inning, then retired 19 of the last 22 he faced. After the first frame, he did not allow a Duquesne runner past first base until walking and hitting a batter with two outs in the seventh. The shutout was the first for the Spiders since four pitchers combined to shutout William & Mary, March 30, 2005.
Brown Named Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie Of The Week
Freshman Cameron Brown was recently rewarded for his team-leading offensive performance against Fordham, when he was named Atlantic 10 Co-Rookie of the Week, April 17. The Troy, N.Y., native finished off last week with a team-best .450 average in five games, including four doubles and team-high six runs scored. Brown was 9-for-20 (.450) in five games, including a 7-for-12 effort in the three games against Fordham. The third baseman carried a slugging percentage of .833 in the Atlantic 10 games with three doubles, four runs scored and 10 total bases. He drove in a career-best four in the final game of the Fordham series to cap a career-high three-hit day (3-for-5).
Spiders Take Two At League-Leading Fordham
Richmond travelled north to face the Fordham Rams in the Bronx, and came home with a series win. The Spiders logged a 10th-inning win Friday with a two-run homer by sophomore Alex Hale to win the series in the first game Saturday. A bases-loaded wild pitch in the ninth inning of game three allowed the Rams to sneak a win out of the series, but not before the Spiders knocked the Rams from their perch atop the A-10 standings.
Riggi Named Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week
Junior Vince Riggi capped off his return to the Spider lineup with a 7-for-14 week, earning himself Atlantic 10 Co-Player of the Week honors for the first time in his career, April 3. The Saratoga Spring, N.Y., native returned to the designated hitter spot against William & Mary, March 29, after missing 13-straight with a nagging leg injury. Riggi opened his return with three-straight multi-hit games, including two in Atlantic 10 play against Massachusetts. The junior, who finished the week with a .500 average going 7-for-14 with three doubles, also garnered College Baseball Foundation Honor Roll recognition for his week's performance.
Croglio's Heroics Gives Spiders First Win
Freshman Victor Croglio capped a six-run seventh inning for the Spiders with a grand slam to straight-away centerfield, helping Richmond pickup its first win of the season, 10-9, over Delaware (1-1) Saturday, Feb. 25 at Pitt Field. After Delaware scored two in the top half of the seventh to take a 9-3 lead, the Spiders started the bottom half with a leadoff walk followed by four-straight hit batsmen. After the Blue Hens changed hurlers, Croglio came to the plate with the bases loaded and unleashed a shot to straight-away centerfield for his first-career homerun. The Fayetteville, N.Y., native, who had gone 2-for-15 until that at-bat, tied the game at 9-9 and eliminated a six-run Blue Hen lead. The four-run shot also marked the first grand slam for Richmond since Bryan Pritz did it against Xavier, May 2, 2004.
Spiders Garner First A-10 Series Win
Richmond scored a total of 34 runs in three games to win a three-game series over Atlantic 10 foe UMass. The Spiders outscored the Minutemen 34-26 in the three-game series, while each team slugged three homers at Pitt Field. The Spiders bookended the UMass series with nine runs against William & Mary (3/29) and 13 runs against James Madison (4/4), marking a total of 56 runs in five games.
Spiders Best In The Atlantic 10
Richmond has the best conference record of any team in the Atlantic 10 Conference since joining the league in 2002. At 80-36 (.690), the Spiders are ahead of the Rhode Island (78-37, .678) and George Washington (74-38, .661). Included in the previous four seasons are two A-10 regular season Championships, one league tournament crown and two NCAA Tournament appearances (an at-large bid in 2002).
On top of that, Richmond is tied with Rhode Island in number of A-10 end-of-the-season honors through the 2005 season, with four. The Spiders also have had 12 First Team All-Atlantic 10 selections since 2002, tied for the most along with George Washington. Lastly, Richmond ranks second all-time in the A-10 standings behind only Virginia Tech in winning percentage. The Hokies, members from 1996-00, were 73-25 in A-10 play and won three titles in their five years of membership.
What Is Coming Back?
Nineteen of the Spiders' 30 roster spots return from 2005 and a large percentage of the numbers from last season return. When looking at stat leaders returning -- in 17 of the 18 categories, the Spiders return the 2005 leader.
