University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
William & Mary
Baseball Falls To W&M Tuesday Night In Williamsburg
03/31/2009 | Baseball
March 31, 2009
WILLIAMSBURG, Va. - The Richmond baseball team allowed William & Mary to jump out to a quick 5-0 lead and the Tribe cruised to a 6-1 win Tuesday night at Plumeri Park in Williamsburg, Va. Five W&M pitchers combined to one-hit the Spiders, who host the Tribe Wednesday at Pitt Field.
A one-out single though the left side in the ninth inning by Chris Cuppia broke up what could have been the Tribe's first no-hitter since the 1979 season.
Richmond (13-8) left 10 runners on base in the game, thanks to eight walks, four errors and a hit by pitch, but the Spiders were 0-for-11 with runners in scoring position. Tribe starter Tim Norton fanned four and walked four in four innings, and turned the game over to his bullpen with a 6-0 lead and the no-hitter alive.
Norton wiggled out of a bases-loaded, two-out jam in third after walking three Spiders. Then in the fourth, he allowed the first two batters of the inning to reach, but escaped trouble again. Phil Ruzbarsky grounded into a fielders' choice putting runners at the corners, and Richmond attempted a double steal on the next play but Ryan Metzroth was gunned down at the plate.
Richmond finally pushed its first run across in the seventh when Victor Croglio reached second on a one-out error, moved to third on a balk and scored thanks to another error.
W&M (9-15) capitalized on Richmond errors in the first and second innings to seize its 5-0 lead -- four of the runs were unearned. Starting pitcher Brian Farrell walked in the first run of the game and Croglio dropped a pop-up in shallow left field that allowed two more runs in.
Tyler Stampone ripped an RBI single as part of the Tribe's two-run second inning.
Farrell lasted just 1.2 innings and allowed four runs (one earned) off one hit and three walks and was tagged the loss (0-2). Reliever Ian Marshall gave up four hits and two runs (one earned) in 4.1 innings. Norton got the win for W&M (2-2).
The Tribe tacked on a run in the fourth on Jeff Jones' RBI before the Spiders finally dented the scoreboard in the seventh.
Richmond and William & Mary duel at Pitt Field Wednesday. First pitch is set for 3:30 p.m.
