University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host Niagara for Three-Game Set this Weekend
02/23/2012 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will host the Niagara Purple Eagles in a three-game series beginning this Friday at Pitt Field. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 2:30 p.m., while Saturday and Sunday's games will start at 2p.m. and 12 p.m., respectively. Fans can follow along with the action with live stats and live video available for purchase at RichmondSpiders.com.
Scouting the Spiders
The Richmond Spiders come in to the weekend series with the
Purple Eagles with a 0-2 record on the season after dropping a pair of games at
The Citadel Memorial Challenge this past weekend. UR lost 12-0 to Liberty on Friday before
dropping a hard-fought, 10-7 decision to the host Bulldogs on Saturday.
Seniors Chris Cowell and Phil Ruzbarsky led the way for the Spiders this past weekend at the plate. Cowell leads the Atlantic 10 with two home runs, while Ruzbarsky ranks second in the conference with a .667 (4-for-6) batting average.
Scouting the Purple
Eagles
The Niagara Purple Eagles come in to the weekend against the
Spiders with an overall record of 1-1 on the year. Last weekend, the Purple Eagles won its
season opener at Davidson, 9-4, before dropping its next contest to Bucknell,
8-4.
Offensively the Purple Eagles have been led by redshirt-junior Ryan McCauley, who is hitting .714 on the season. McCauley has been extra-bases machine, hitting two home runs and two doubles. On the mound, sophomore Drew Fittry leads the team with a 1-0 record, pitching six solid innings in the win last Friday, striking out five while allowing just two earned runs.
The Series
The last time these two teams met was back in the 2009
season. In that three-game series played
in Richmond, the Spiders were able to take all three contests from the Purple
Eagles by a combined score of 33-17.
No Place Like Home
After opening the season on the road, the Spiders will return
home to Richmond to play 19 of their next 22 games at Pitt Field. Home has been kind to UR over the last three
seasons, as the Spiders have posted a record of 49-35-1 (.582) since 2009,
averaging over 16 wins a season at Pitt Field.
Richmond is scheduled to play 32 games at home in 2012.
Close to the Top-10
With his two home runs against The Citadel on February 18,
senior Chris Cowell inched closer to making it on the school's all-time top-10
list for career home runs. With his 27
career bombs, Cowell sits just four behind Joe Mahoney in 10th place and five
long-balls shy of eighth place.
Williams Ranks
Amongst School's Finest in ERA
Despite taking the loss in the Spiders' season opener on
February 17, redshirt junior Bret Williams became eligible for the school's
top-10 list in ERA. With this career
3.90 ERA through 101.2 innings pitched, Williams ranks ninth all-time in
program history.
McQueen Continues to
Build the Spiders
Since taking over the helm of the Spider baseball program in
2008, head coach Mark McQueen improved his win total each of his first four
seasons. After winning 20 games in 2008,
McQueen and the Spider won 22 in 2009, 24 in 2010, and 29 last season. Sitting at 95 career wins at Richmond,
McQueen will tie Chuck Boone for fifth place all-time in coaching wins with the
Spiders.
Three Spiders Earn
Preseason Accolades
Prior to the 2012 season, senior catcher Chris Cowelll,
sophomore shortstop Mike Small, and freshman pitcher Jonathan deMarte were
honored by CollegeSportsMadness.com.
Cowell and Small were named to the Preseason All-Atlantic 10
Second-Team, while deMarte was named Preseason Freshman of the Year.
