University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
William & Mary
No Fooling, Tribe Rallies To Beat Spiders, 9-7, At Pitt Field
04/01/2009 | Baseball
April 1, 2009
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - Richmond saw leads of 6-1 and 7-6 slip away and William & Mary scored twice in the ninth inning to down the Spiders, 9-7, at Pitt Field Wednesday afternoon. Sophomore Mike Mergenthaler and freshman Adam McConnell homered for Richmond, which slipped to 13-9 on the season.
The Tribe's Tadd Bower led off the ninth inning with a solo home run to center off senior closer Brian Alas, and that run proved to be the difference as William & Mary (10-15) swept both ends of the week's home-and-home series.
Stephen Arcure added insurance for the Tribe with an RBI single and Alas (2-1) suffered his first loss of the season.
An RBI by Chris Forsten in the seventh inning drew the Tribe even at 7-7, after Ryan Metzroth drove in Phil Ruzbarsky in the sixth inning to give Richmond the lead back at 7-6.
McConnell led off the bottom of the first with his first collegiate home run and Mergenthaler followed later in the frame with a two-run blast as the Spiders answered the Tribe's first-inning run and grabbed a 5-1 lead.
Freshman Robby Massar, who had two of Richmond's 10 hits, ripped a two-RBI double in the first inning off W&M starter Chris Yates, who lasted just three innings.
A sacrifice fly by Metzroth in the second inning pushed the Spiders lead to 6-1, but the Tribe came roaring back with a run in the third, two more in the fourth and tied the game at 6-6 with a pair in the sixth.
Jay McCarthy fired three innings of scoreless relief for W&M with four strikeouts and earned the victory (1-3). Although Richmond brought the winning run to the plate in the ninth inning, Logan Billbrough got the final two outs for his first save.
Cameron Brown led off the ninth inning with his second hit of the game - a double down the right field line -- and freshman Ryan Mallory followed later with a two-out walk. Brown, who reached safely four times thanks to a walk and an error, moved to third on a passed ball. But Brown and Mallory were stranded when Billbrough worked a groundout from Massar to end it.
The runs allowed by Alas were the first off him since March 17 as the senior entered the week as the Atlantic 10's leader with a 1.08 ERA.
The Spiders have dropped four straight, on the heels of a stretch that saw the team win four of five. Richmond is back in action this weekend with a three-game series at Saint Louis that starts Friday night at 8 p.m. ET (7 p.m. CT).
