University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Jacksonville
Jacksonville Scores Late To Down Richmond, 10-8
02/26/2010 | Baseball
Feb. 26, 2010
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - Jacksonville's Jimmy Howick ripped a two-run triple to break an 8-8 deadlock in the seventh inning as the Dolphins beat visiting Richmond, 10-8, Friday at the JU Invitational. Senior 3B Cameron Brown had three hits and drove in four for the Spiders.
Brown finished the day three-for-four with four RBI and finished a triple short of the cycle. Mike Mergenthaler, Phil Ruzbarsky and Andrew Lowry each had two hits as the Spiders (2-2) pounded out 13 as a team.
"Again, I was happy with the way we swung the bats," said head coach Mark McQueen. "We got nine hits from our top five guys in the lineup, but we struggled in preserving that early lead."
The decisive seventh inning started when Chris Connelly singled to left, ending the day of reliever Billy Falasco. With one out, Connelly eventually moved to third on wild pitch and it looked like the Spiders would dodge trouble after he was gunned down at the plate by SS Adam McConnell on a fielder's choice.
But Alex Swenson singled to right off Billy Barber and Howick followed with the triple that landed just inches inside the chalk and rolled to the right-field corner.
Falasco was on the hook for the go-ahead run in the seventh and was tagged the loss (1-1), while Chris Kaminski pitched the final 2.1 innings to get his first win of the season. Falasco, though, pitched well in relief of starter Matt Zielinski and fired three innings with a career-high six strikeouts.
Richmond pitching finished with 13 strikeouts and issued just four walks.
"Our bullpen is pitching well right now," said McQueen. "They did a nice job a settling things down."
The teams locked up in a back-and-fourth battle early on with four ties and three lead changes in the game's first four innings. Brown started the scoring with an RBI single in the first, and after JU (2-3) scored four times in the bottom of the first, Brown struck again in the second as the Spiders scored six times.
Batting around in the frame, Richmond pounded out six runs on six hits to seize a 7-4 lead. McConnell's RBI single started the rally, Mergenthaler ripped a two-run single up the middle, Brown followed later with a two-run double to left and Ryan Mallory's RBI double to left capped the scoring.
But JU had an answer with three in the third, tying the game at 7-7 when Alex Martinez ripped two-run double to center.
Brown's solo homer in the fourth gave the Spiders the lead back at 8-7, but Chuck Opachich's sac fly in the bottom of the frame tied it again. Opachich drove in three RBI and was one of five Dolphins with multi-hit games. Connelly also drove in three.
Richmond continues in the JU Invitational Saturday at 12 p.m. to battle Valparaiso, which lost to No. 20 Oklahoma, 12-9, in Friday's first game.
