University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
La Salle
Owens, Barber Lead Surging Spiders Past La Salle In A-10 Opener
03/20/2008 | Baseball
March 20, 2008
Box Score | SpiderTV Highlights 
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Stephen Owens pitched seven solid innings while Billy Barber blasted his first collegiate grand slam as the Richmond baseball team opened Atlantic 10 play with a 7-4 victory over La Salle Thursday at Pitt Field. The win is the Spiders' fourth-consecutive and improved their record to 9-11-1 overall, 1-0 in the A-10.
Barber's seventh-inning grand slam enabled Richmond to pull away from La Salle, after the visitors gained a 1-0 lead in the first and went back up 2-1 in the fifth. The freshman, who is the reining National Player of the Week, has now homered in five-consecutive games and has collected 14 RBI over the last three contests.
With Richmond clinging to a 3-2 advantage, the Spiders loaded the bases with no outs off reliever Zach Huff thanks to a pair of walks and a single. But Barber delivered once again, clearing the bases with his grand slam to deep right field.
"It's another big hit for Barber," said head coach Mark McQueen. "He's obviously swinging the bat well, but I like what we're doing as a team offensively right now. We're in a groove and our guys are excited to come to the park. That was a good way to open the conference season."
Owens scattered seven hits over seven innings with two runs, two strikeouts and a walk. The win improved the redshirt junior to 2-0 and dropped his ERA to 3.13, which leads the starting staff. Owens turned it over to Jay Joines, who pitched two outs in the eighth and Alex Hale finished off the win with a strikeout over the final 1.1 innings.
"Steve gave us a huge outing today," said head coach Mark McQueen. "What we needed was seven innings out of our starter and he delivered. He had good command, his velocity was up and he was mixing his pitches well."
Hank Coogan went three-for-four to extending his hitting streak to a team-leading 12th-straight game. The senior from nearby Douglass Freeman High School is second on the team with a .407 average. Monacan graduate Evan Stehle stayed hot, lacing a double to right field and drawing three walks. The sophomore is the third Spider batting over .400 this season (.403).
Barber went two-for-four and bumped his average to a team-leading .431.
The wind and sun aided La Salle (4-16, 0-1) in taking a 1-0 lead in the first inning. With John Malloy at first after a two-out single, John Rickards lifted a high fly ball down the right field line. Ryan Metzroth appeared to be under it, but the ball dropped behind him, bringing home Malloy sending Rickards to third with a stand-up triple.
Richmond generated the equalizer in the second inning when Barber scored from third on Derek Boliek's RBI fielders' choice. Barber was plunked in the back to lead off the frame, moved to second with Stehle's walk and reached third when Joe White dropped a bunt single down the first-base line.
With both starting pitchers locked in 1-1 duel, La Salle played some small-ball in the fifth to reclaim the lead. Rick Gehman singled to lead off the inning, stole second, reached third thanks to a sacrifice bunt and scored on Malloy's sac fly.
La Salle's Jamie Cowan had yielded just a run and three hits through four, but his outing unraveled in fifth as Richmond would take the lead for good. Austin Reilly ripped an infield single to short and Andrew Lowry and Coogan followed with successive bunt singles to load the bases. Metzroth grounded into a double play to score the equalizer, while Lowry represented the go-ahead run when he scored on a wild pitch.
Cowan, who was tagged with the loss, went six innings and turned the game over to Huff trailing 3-2. Huff faced five Spiders in the seventh inning and did not record an out.
The three-game series continues at Pitt Field Friday afternoon. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
