University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Fordham
Spiders Downed By Fordham Sunday At Pitt Field
04/29/2007 | Baseball
April 29, 2007
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UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Visiting Fordham scored seven times in the final three innings to beat Richmond, 12-4, Sunday afternoon at Pitt Field. The Spiders had pulled to within a run at 5-4 in the sixth inning, but could get no closer in dropping their first A-10 series of the season.
Joe White and Vince Riggi each had two hits for the Spiders who fell to 26-19 overall and 14-4 in the Atlantic 10. Cameron Brown's fourth homer of the season, a two-run shot, made the score 5-4 in the sixth inning.
The Rams (23-18, 11-7) pounded out 19 hits on the afternoon, which included a five-for-five day from Rich Goulian and three hits apiece from Eric Reese, Brian Keeney and Danny Leach. John Mollicone drove in five runs with two hits.
Three big innings by the visitors spoiled Richmond's shot at pulling even in the A-10 standings with first-place Charlotte, which fell at George Washington this afternoon. The Rams tacked on five runs in the third, four in the seventh and three in the eight to account for their scoring.
Tom Davis (6-2) went seven innings to earn his sixth win of the season. The Fordham starter allowed eight hits, four runs and fanned three with one walk. James Sammut held Richmond scoreless with three strikeouts over the final two innings.
Richmond starter Josh Horn (4-3) lasted just 3.2 innings and was tagged with his first conference defeat of the season. He allowed seven hits and five runs with a strikeout.
After Benji Marshall led the Spiders off in the first inning with a single and Alex Wotring reached on a walk, Davis settled in got himself out of the early trouble in the first. He then set the Spiders down in order in the second and third.
The Rams did the first damage, putting five runs across in the top of third thanks in part to a three-run home run from Mollicone.
The Spiders capitalized on Vince Riggi leadoff single and got a run back in the fourth inning. Matt McKenna moved Riggi to second on a sac bunt and then scored with two out on Brown's RBI single through the right side.
Brown then made a slick defensive play the next half inning to end an early Fordham threat. After the Rams saw the leadoff man reach, Brown scooped a ball in the hole between third and short and triggered a 5-4-3 double play.
Brown's two-run homer capped a three-run sixth inning for Richmond that pulled them within a run at 5-4. Vince Riggi that would have been extra bases had it not drilled the third base bag. The third successive single from White scored Mahoney from third.
But a dubious start to the seventh would lead to four runs on five hits that inning to erase Richmond's work in the sixth and put the game out of reach. Leach legged out a double to shallow right that deflected off the glove of a diving Marshall. Leach ended up at third on the play on an error. Reese promptly drove him in with a single. Jordan Lert had a two-RBI single in the inning as well.
The Spiders are idle this week for final exams and return to action Friday at Massachusetts, with the first of eight-straight on the road.
