University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
George Mason
Spiders Rally In Ninth To Beat Mason, 6-3
04/09/2008 | Baseball
April 9, 2008
FAIRFAX, Va. - Freshman Andrew Lowry dropped an RBI double into left field in the ninth, breaking a 3-3 tie to lift the Richmond baseball team past George Mason, 6-3, Wednesday afternoon in Fairfax, Va. Evan Stehle finished with two hits and a two-run homer in the first inning for the Spiders, who won their second-consecutive game.
Richmond manufactured the go-ahead tally in the ninth after freshman Mike Mergenthaler singled to lead-off the frame. Classmate Derek Boliek moved him into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt and Lowry's double broke the deadlock. A Hank Coogan two-run single later in the inning scored Lowry and Austin Reilly to give Richmond insurance at 6-3.
Reliever Billy Barber rolled a double-play to end a bases-loaded jam in the seventh and pitched a scoreless eighth to align the freshman with his first career victory (1-0). Senior Alex Hale slammed the door in the ninth for his third save with three ground outs.
The win improved the Spiders to 14-17-1 overall and ensured the season sweep of the Patriots, who slipped to 14-18.
Stehle, Mergenthaler and Reilly each collected two of Richmond's 11 hits, while five pitchers combined for the victory. Mason had 10 hits - four coming from Scott Krieger -- and left 12 runners stranded on bases.
The Spiders wasted little time jumping on their Commonwealth counterparts with two runs in the first, thanks to the two-run home run by Stehle. After leading the game off with a single, Joe White was erased when Coogan couldn't move him to second with a sacrifice bunt. But with Coogan on, Stehle bombed a two-run shot to deep left for his third homer of the season, which gave the Spiders their first lead in the first inning since March 21 versus La Salle.
Ryan Soars answered right back for the Patriots in the second, when he laced a two-RBI double over the head of the shortstop Boliek with the bases loaded and two outs to tie the contest at 2-2.
After starter Darren McLean settled in, Mason took the lead for the first time in the fifth when a run scored on a double-play ball. With runners at the corners and no outs, reliever Josh Horn rolled a 4-6-3 twin killing, but Scott Krieger scored from third. Horn set Mark Hill down looking in the next at-bat to end the inning.
Back-to-back hits by the Spiders - a single by Stehle and a double to the gap in left field by Ryan Metzroth - ended McLean's day in the sixth. Richmond then drew even at 3-3 when T.J. O'Grady's wild pitch reached the backstop and allowed Stehle to score from third.
The Patriots threatened to blow it open in the seventh with the bases loaded and one out, but Barber emerged from the bullpen and induced the Spiders' second double play of the game to end the frame and keep the score tied.
Richmond returns to action Friday when a three-game Atlantic 10 series begins at Temple. First pitch in Ambler, Pa. is set for 3 p.m.
