University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Virginia
Richmond Strands 12 Runners On Base In Loss At No. 1 Virginia
04/20/2011 | Baseball
April 20, 2011
CHARLOTTESVILLE, Va. - No. 1 Virginia broke open a scoreless game in the third inning with seven runs and took down Richmond, 12-1, Wednesday night in Charlottesville. Six different Spiders had hits and Richmond left 12 runners stranded in the game.
Virginia improved to 38-3 with the victory, while the Spiders slipped to 19-16-2.
The game was delayed nearly 30 minutes early on after Richmond freshman SS Mike Small suffered a serious leg injury and was taken off the field in an ambulance. After leading off the game with a single, Small was injured sliding into second to break up a double play.
He was later released from the UVa Medial Center and will be seen by doctors in Richmond on Thursday.
Regrouping from the game's emotional start, senior RHP Billy Barber rolled quickly through the first two innings, but the Cavaliers got the bats going in the third and never looked back.
The big blow came on an inside-the-park grand slam from Danny Hultzen that gave Virginia a 7-0 lead in the third.
Richmond had chances, pounding out six hits and drawing seven walks. But the Spiders left runners on base in all but one inning, and stranded six in scoring position.
After loading the bases with one out in the ninth, Richmond broke up Virginia's shutout bid when Mike Mergenthaler lifted a sacrifice fly to centerfield that scored JB Gadd.
The Cavaliers hold the ACC record with 12 shutouts this season.
Barber was hung the loss (1-1), while Scott Silverstein picked up the win for Virginia (1-0).
Richmond is back in action with a key Atlantic 10 series versus Rhode Island at Pitt Field this weekend. The Spiders sit in second-place in the A-10, while the Rams are a half-game back.
