University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
South Carolina
Baseball Overtaken By No. 1 Ranked South Carolina
02/17/2007 | Baseball
Feb. 17, 2007
CHARLESTON, S.C. - The Richmond baseball team jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning over No. 1 ranked South Carolina and kept that lead until the Gamecocks exploded for four runs in the top of the fourth inning.
Top-ranked South Carolina would go on to score two runs in the sixth and seventh on its way to a 9-2 victory Saturday in the Citadel Shootout at Riley Park.
Richmond dropped to 0-2 overall and will play Liberty on Sunday at 11 a.m. in the final game of the Citadel Shootout.
Senior Matt McKenna went 3-for-4 with a RBI. Senior Andrew Justice, senior Vince Riggi, junior Joe Mahoney, junior Hank Coogan and sophomore Victor Croglio each had a hit for Richmond.
The Spiders were only out-hit 10-8 by the Gamecocks (5-0), but Richmond pitchers combined to walk 14 batters.
"We started off real well, but our pitchers walked too many guys," Richmond head coach Rob Atkins said. "They had 10 hits and scored nine runs. Our defense played very well, we just can't walk that many."
The Spiders had the bases loaded in two innings and had at least two runners on in four innings, but could not score after pushing across a pair of runs in the first frame.
"We didn't really hit the ball like we did yesterday," Atkins said. "We had a few opportunities where we had runners on but we didn't score. For the second time out playing one of the top teams in the country, it wasn't too bad. We just couldn't come back."
The Spiders scored their two runs in the first inning with two outs. Junior Matt McKenna followed with a RBI-single to left to plate Brown for the 2-0 lead.
South Carolina got a run back in the second inning on a RBI-groundout, but it was not until the top of the fourth that the Gamecocks took the lead. A two-run homer by James Darnell put South Carolina up 3-2 and two more runs made it 5-2. The Gamecocks made it 7-2 in the sixth inning and added two more runs in the seventh.
NOTES: Matt McKenna has hit safely in seven-straight games dating back to last season and has at least two hits in his last four games...McKenna leads the team with a .556 average through two games (5-for-9)...Hank Coogan has hit safely in five-straight games and 13 of the last 14 dating back to last season.
