University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
VMI
VMI Strikes For Six Unanswered To Beat Richmond, 9-5
04/01/2008 | Baseball
April 1, 2008
LEXINGTON, Va. - After visiting Richmond opened a 5-3 lead in the sixth, VMI scored six unanswered runs to take a 9-5 victory Tuesday night in Lexington, Va. Freshman Mike Mergenthaler launched a two-run homer in the second inning and finished with three RBI for the Spiders, who continue on the road this weekend with an Atlantic 10 series at Xavier.
Mergenthaler went one-for-three with a sacrifice fly, while his third homer of the season extended the freshman's hitting streak to a team-leading 18 games. Joe White doubled and has now hit safely in 12-straight games.
The loss dropped Richmond to 12-15-1 overall, while VMI improved to 11-15.
The Spiders struck for two runs in the sixth inning, capitalizing on a pair of VMI errors to open its lead to 5-3. Hank Coogan singled, stole second and scored when Ryan Metzroth's single was bobbled by the VMI left fielder. Another error moved Metzroth to third and Mergenthaler's sac fly scored him.
But as quickly as Richmond took the lead, VMI rallied with five runs in the sixth, one in the seventh and never trailed again. Sam Roberts singled up the middle to score two and Tanner Biagini laced a two-RBI double off the wall in center field to help the Keydets pull away.
"I was proud of the way the guys battled back to take the lead," said head coach Mark McQueen. "But we needed to get a lot of guys some work today on the mound and it was one bad inning that cost us."
Getting the staff mid-week work, the Spiders used seven pitchers in the game. Sophomore Jay Joines was tagged with loss after giving up the three run (two earned) in the decisive sixth inning. Chris Duty picked up the win for VMI.
Josh Horn came on in relief of freshman starter Anthony Cafagna and went three shutout innings with one hit and three strikeouts. Cafagna gave up two runs on two hits in the first inning.
"Josh was a bright spot on the mound, said McQueen. "He gave us three solid innings and I like the way we played defensively."
Mergenthaler's two-run homer to right field tied the game in the top of the second inning and the Spiders took the lead when White scored on a wild pitch that same inning.
Richmond returns to action Friday afternoon when a three-game series starts at Xavier. First pitch at Hayden Field in Cincinnati is set for 3 p.m. ET.
