University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Lafayette
Baseball Cruises Past Lafayette, 11-2, For Third-Straight Win
03/06/2010 | Baseball
March 6, 2010
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND - Senior Ian Marshall gave the Spiders another strong start and the offense pounded out 11 runs and 13 hits in an 11-2 victory over Lafayette Saturday at Pitt Field. Richmond goes for the sweep Sunday at 1 p.m. Sophomore C Chris Cowell had two hits, a homer and scored three times.
The victory is the third-straight for Richmond, which improved to 5-4 this season.
Marshall, making his first start for the Spiders since early last season, blanked the visitors over the first four innings as the offense built a 4-0 lead. The senior went 6.2 innings, scattered seven hits, allowed two runs and improved to 1-0.
"Ian did a great job and gave us our third-consecutive quality outing," said head coach Mark McQueen. "That was something we were lacking early on. But our guys are getting some confidence and I like what I see out of our ballclub right now."
Senior Brian Farrell did the rest, slamming the door on Lafayette (0-5) with five strikeouts, no walks and one hit over the final 2.1 innings.
Cowell was two-for-three with two RBI and scored three times. The sophomore catcher launched a solo home run - his second of the season - in the sixth inning and also threw out two Lafayette base runners and picked off another.
"Chris (Cowell) came up big for us today," said McQueen. "He had a couple hits, hit a homer, threw two guys out and back-picked another at first base."
Andrew Lowry, Phil Ruzbarsky, Mike Mergenthaler and Billy Barber each collected two hits for Richmond, which scored in every inning except the first and eighth. Mergenthaler extended his hitting streak to eight games, while Barber swiped a career-high three bases.
The Spiders led 4-0 through four innings and a three-run fifth inning -- highlighted by an RBI double from Victor Croglio, a run-scoring single from Lowry and an RBI bunt from Ruzbarsky - broke the game open.
Junior Matt Trent takes the mound Sunday as the Spiders looks for the sweep of Lafayette. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
