University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Baseball Hosts VCU on Wednesday
03/20/2012 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will play host to its cross-town rival VCU this Wednesday at Pitt Field. The Spiders and Rams are scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch. Fans can follow along with live stats at RichmondSpiders.com or purchase the live SpiderTV video broadcast of the game.
Scouting the Spiders
The Richmond Spiders come in to Wednesday's game with the
VCU Rams with an overall record of 12-6 on the season. After winning 11 in a row, Richmond lost a
hard-fought, midweek game to George Mason before dropping two of three to
Princeton this past weekend.
Through 18 games this season, the Spiders have boasted one of the most powerful and potent offenses in the country. Led by senior Phil Ruzbarsky, Richmond is averaging over eight runs a game and hitting .307 as a team. Ruzbarsky leads the team with a .435 batting average and an on-base percentage of .576. Classmate Chris Cowell leads the Atlantic 10 conference with nine home runs.
On the mound, junior Jacob Mayers has put together a solid start to his year, posting a record of 4-1 in his five starts. Mayers leads the team with 34 strikeouts in 31 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, sophomore Andrew Brockett has tallied three saves.
Scouting the Rams
After taking down No. 25-ranked East Carolina on the road
last week, the VCU Rams weren't able to hold on to the momentum of that big win
and dropped three-straight on the road to Hofstra this past weekend. Coming in to Wednesday's game, the Rams have
posted a record of 11-9 on the year, but are just 2-7 away from The Diamond.
Leading the Rams' offense this season has been a pair of sophomores - Joey Cujas and Bill Cullen. Cujas leads the team with a .443 batting average and 23 RBIs, while Cullen is hitting .409 on the season with 13 doubles and six triples. As a team, VCU has collected 55 doubles and his hitting .301 on the year.
The pitching staff for the Rams has been headlined by junior Ryan Farrar, who has posted a 2-1 record on the season with a team-best 3.45 ERA. In the bullpen, junior Blake Hauser has notched six saves on the season. As a staff, VCU has posted an ERA of 4.87, allowing opponents to hit .279 on the year.
The Series
In the recent series history between VCU and Richmond, the
Rams have held the advantage dating back to the 2006 season, winning six of the
nine contests. However, the Spiders have
won three of the last four contests, including the last two games played at
Pitt Field.
Spiders One of Nation's Best Offenses
Heading in to its midweek showdown with the cross-town VCU
Rams on Wednesday, the Spiders have posted some impressive offensive numbers
that rank highly nationally. Richmond
comes in to the week leading the country in home runs with 32, one more than
Florida. The Spiders also rank second in
the nation in both slugging percentage (.529) and OPS (.936).
Ruzbarsky Raking
Senior Phil Ruzbarsky has started his final season for the
Spiders on an offensive tear. Ruzbarsky
is the only player in the Atlantic 10 to rank in the top-four in batting
average, slugging, OBP, runs scored, hits, RBIs, home runs, total bases, and
walks. Ruzbarsky ranks fourth in the
nation in OBP (.576) and fifth in slugging (.887).
In the Record Book
With his nine home runs this season, senior Chris Cowell is
now in eighth place all-time in school history with 34 career home runs. Cowell is sits just two homers behind
seventh-place Nic Jackson. Vito
Chiaravalotti is the all-time leader with 61 career home runs.
Richmond Pleads the Fifth
Offense has come in bunches this season for the Spiders and
never more so than in the fifth inning.
Through 18 games this season, Richmond has scored 41 of its 148 runs in
the fifth frame - roughly 27.7 percent of its total offense this year. Entering the week, the Spiders have
out-scored their opponents a combined 41-14 in the fifth inning.
