University of Richmond Athletics
No. 5 Richmond Opens A-10 Tournament Play Wednesday With No. 4 Xavier
05/23/2011 | Baseball
May 23, 2011
| No. 5 Richmond (26-25-2) vs. No. 4 Xavier (30-25) 2011 Atlantic 10 Tournament |
Game 1 | Wednesday, May 25 (12 p.m.) Anthony Cafagna, RHP (UR) vs. Jon Richard, LHP (XU) Richmond Game Notes |
| Tourney Info | Bracket |
| Location | Camden, N.J. | Campbell's Field | Weather |
| Radio | None |
| TV | None |
| Audio Webcast | Spider Sports Network |
| Live Stats | Gametracker |
| UR Baseball Info | Team Record Book | Twitter | A-10 Tourney Record Book |
SHORT HOPS
• For the sixth time in 10 seasons in the league, Richmond is headed to the Atlantic 10 Championship after finishing the regular season at 13-11 and earning the fifth seed. The Spiders face fourth-seeded Xavier Wednesday when the tournament begins at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J.
• The winner of the Richmond-Xavier game faces top-seeded Charlotte Thursday at 12 p.m., while the loser battles the Dayton-La Salle loser Wednesday at 7 p.m. in an elimination game.
• Richmond is 13-9 all-time in A-10 Tournament play -- the 13 wins is the most among active teams in the A-10 and the .591 winning percentage is third-highest behind Saint Louis (.889, 8-1) and Charlotte (.600, 9-6).
• Richmond played the toughest league schedule of any other A-10 team this season, as the W-L record of its league foes was 98-70. The Spiders have at least one win this season versus all five teams in the tournament -- going 7-8 in those games -- and also played 9th-place Saint Joseph's and 10th-place St. Louis.
• Senior RF Mike Mergenthaler, who has missed just three games in his college career that spans 202 games, currently leads the team in doubles (16), homers (7) and RBI (41), while his 162 career RBI ranks in the Top 30 among all active Division-I players. His three-run blast in Sunday's eighth inning propelled the Spiders to a 10-8 win over the Billikens.
• Senior 1B Billy Barber has turned up the offense in A-10 play as he leads the team with a .354 average in conference action and brings a seven-game hitting streak into Camden. Four of his five homers have come in A-10 play and the senior currently ranks sixth on the Spiders all-time homers list with 36.
• Senior RHP Anthony Cafagna is 4-0 in A-10 action, having allowed just seven runs (six earned) over his last 26.2 innings. He fired a nine-inning, three-hit shutout at No. 25 Charlotte -- a game the Spiders lost 1-0 in 10 innings.
• Junior LF Phil Ruzbarsky hit .409 (9-for-22) over Richmond's final two conference weekends with three home runs, a triple and 11 RBI. The junior finished the regular season at .290, was seven-for-eight in stolen bases and drove in the team's second-most runs (37). He clubbed his first career grand slam in the SJU series.
