University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Old Dominion
Riggi's Pinch-Hit Grand Slam; Wotring's Catch Lead Spiders Over Old Dominion
03/14/2007 | Baseball
March 14, 2007
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| HIGHLIGHTS 
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Junior Vince Riggi hit a pinch-hit grand slam home run with two outs in the bottom of the sixth and junior Alex Wotring robbed a possible game-tying home run in the ninth as the Richmond baseball team defeated Old Dominion 8-5 Wednesday at Pitt Field.
With the mid-March temperature hitting 81 degrees at Pitt Field, the Spiders trailed the Monarchs 3-2 heading into the bottom of the sixth, when the Spiders pushed across two runs to grab a 4-3 lead. Richmond loaded the bases and head coach Ron Atkins opted to have Riggi, who did not start for the first time this season, hit for Benji Marshall, who had tripled earlier in the game and scored a run.
The move worked as Riggi blasted a 2-1 pitch over the left-center field fence for his first home run of the season, the fourth of his career, and his first-career grand slam.
"I knew if we gave him a chance in that spot, with one swing of the bat, it could basically be ball game over," Atkins said. "That's a big time hit there."
The grand slam gave Richmond an 8-3 lead, but Old Dominion was able to get single runs in the seventh and eighth to pull within three runs. In the top of the ninth, two infield singles with one out gave the Monarchs the tying run at the plate in Jake McAloose.
McAloose hit a shot to deep left that Wotring went back to the wall on, jumped, and with his arm over the wall, snagged for the second out of the inning.
"That was a great catch by Wotring, he timed it perfectly," Atkins said.
Junior Brian Alas got the next batter to fly to center field to end the game.
"Alas did a great job coming in and getting out of the seventh," Atkins said. "He pitched well today."
Richmond freshman starter Matt Trent earned his first collegiate victory, going 6 2/3 innings, allowing eight hits and four runs to a Monarch squad that entered the game hitting .325 as a team and had won nine of its last 11 games. The 6-foot-5 Trent struck out four and walked three, before giving way to Alas in the seventh.
"Trent pitched well, he was in control of the game," Atkins said. "He had one rough inning in the fourth, but he pitched out of it and was great in the fifth and sixth. In the seventh he just ran out of gas."
Alas came on with two outs in the seventh with runners on first and second, but got the next batter to ground out to first to end the inning. Alas went 2 1/3 innings, allowing three hits and one run, while striking out one to earn his second save of the season.
Old Dominion (14-9) got a run in the first inning on Trent, but he got out of the inning and held the Monarchs scoreless over the next two innings. In the bottom of the third, Richmond got on the scoreboard when Marshall hit a two-out triple into the right field corner and Coogan (2-for-4) followed with a double to left field to drive in Marshall and extend his hitting streak to 12 games.
The Monarchs regained the lead in the fourth inning with two runs, but a solo home run by Matt McKenna to lead off the fifth inning made it 3-2. That set the stage for the six-run sixth inning.
Junior Cameron Brown reached on an infield single and junior Joe White followed with a double to left center to score Brown from first and tie the game 3-3. McKenna grounded into a force at second base for the second out of the inning, advancing White to third, and then freshman Evan Stehle walked to load the bases. Sophomore Victor Croglio was hit by a pitch to force in a run and give Richmond a 4-3 lead and that's when Riggi was summoned to pinch hit and provided his heroics.
The Spiders continue their nine-game homestand on Saturday when they host Valparaiso at 1 p.m. at Pitt Field. The start time for all three home games next week will be changed to 3 p.m. Richmond hosts Towson on Monday, Virginia on Tuesday and George Mason on Wednesday.
