University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Rhode Island
Richmond Baseball Drops Series-Opener To Rhody, Adjusts Weekend Schedule
04/18/2008 | Baseball
April 18, 2008
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - Visiting Rhode Island broke the game open with four runs in the fourth inning and defeated Richmond, 8-3, in Atlantic 10 baseball action at Pitt Field Friday afternoon. Mike Mergenthaler and Ryan Metzroth each had three hits for the Spiders. Due to impending rain on Sunday, the two teams are now scheduled to play a doubleheader at Pitt Field Saturday beginning at 1 p.m.
Mergenthaler was three-for-four with an RBI and his first triple as a Spider. The freshman has hit safely in 24 of the past 27 games - with four multi-hit games in the last seven - and has his average above .300 (.306) for the first time since mid-March. Metzroth was also three-for-four and scored thanks to Mergenthaler's RBI in the eighth.
The loss dropped the Spiders to 15-21-1 overall, 6-7 in the A-10, while the Rams improved to 18-19, 7-6 with their seventh-consecutive victory. URI moved into a fifth-place tie with St. Bonaventure, while Richmond dropped into a seventh-place deadlock with George Washington and Fordham.
Freshman Billy Falasco pitched three strong innings in relief of starter Stephen Owens, holding the Rams scoreless and allowing just three hits and no walks with a strikeout to keep the Spiders within striking distance.
Thanks to a four-run fourth inning, the Rams opened a 6-0 lead, knocked Owens out of the ball game after 3.1 innings and dealt him the loss (2-3). He was tagged for nine hits and six runs (five earned) with a walk and two strikeouts.
A lead off walk drawn by Chris Cuppia in the fifth-inning helped trigger a two-run frame for the Spiders. Austin Reilly laced an RBI triple to the wall in right-center in the next at bat and a run-scoring ground out from Joe White plated Reilly.
But URI starter Brett Palanski retired the next two Spiders in order and worked his way around a lead-off double by Metzroth in the six to earn the victory. Palanski, who also dodged Mergenthaler's two-out triple in the fourth, allowed just six hits with six strikeouts in six innings to earn the victory (5-2).
The bottom half of the Rhody lineup did the damage as the team's five- through nine-hitters went a combined 10-for-22 with five RBI and eight runs scored. Tom Coulombe, Oliver Palmer and Shaun Hagey each had three of the Ram's 16 hits.
The first game of Saturday's doubleheader can be heard live on the Spiders' flagship station - ESPN Radio 950 in Richmond, while live video of both games is available at RichmondSpiders.com.
