University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Host Tribe at Pitt Field Tuesday
03/26/2012 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will close out its 11-game home stand on Tuesday when the Spiders will play host to their in-state rival William and Mary. First pitch at Pitt Field is scheduled for 3 p.m.
Fans who are unable to attend the game can purchase a multi-camera live video feed of the game through SpiderTV. Live stats will also be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
Scouting the Spiders
The Richmond Spiders will look to bounce back from a pair of
tough losses this weekend when it hosts the Tribe on Tuesday. Richmond dropped a pair to the visiting
Northeastern Huskies, dropping its overall record on the season to 13-8. At Pitt Field this season, the Spiders have
posted a mark of 10-6.
The Spiders come in to Tuesday's game with William and Mary boasting one of the nation's most powerful offensive attacks. Leading the charge for Richmond has been seniors Phil Ruzbarsky and Chris Cowell. Ruzbarsky paces the team with a .395 batting average, while Cowell has hit a team-high 11 homers and eight doubles. Junior Jacob Mayers is also delivering at the plate, driving in 28 runs on the season.
While coming through at the dish, Mayers has also been performing well on the mound. Mayers leads the team with a 4-2 record, striking out 37 batters in 37.1 innings of work. Sophomore Andrew Brockett has recorded a team-best three saves out of the bullpen.
Scouting the Tribe
The William and Mary Tribe travel west down I-64 on Tuesday
looking to rebound from a tough four-game stretch that has seen W&M drop
three of their last four contests. The
Tribe dropped two of three this past weekend at George Mason, moving their
record on the season to 16-10 on the year.
While the William and Mary offense hasn't been swinging the bats like the Spiders have, they have received strong efforts this season from junior Ryan Brown and sophomore Ryan Lindemuth. Brown leads the Tribe with a .330 batting average, while Lindemuth has hit a team-best three home runs, driving in 21 runs while stealing 11 bases. As a team, W&M is hitting .264 on the year through 26 games.
On the mound, William and Mary has been tremendous this season, posting a 2.37 team ERA ranking the Tribe sixth in the country. Senior Matt Davenport has been dealing, posting a record of 4-1 with an ERA of 1.24 and 37 strikeouts. Junior John Farrell leads the team with six saves out of the bullpen.
The Series
In the overall series between the Spiders and the Tribe,
William and Mary holds a record of 16-13 over Richmond. Last season, the two teams split their pair
of games with each road team earning the victory. Richmond won 2-1 at W&M before dropping a
9-8 decision at Pitt Field.
Richmond Leads Nation in Home Runs
Coming in to the week, the Richmond Spiders lead the country
with 38 home runs. Florida is the next
closest team on the national level with 37, while in the Atlantic 10 Dayton is
in second place with 16 bombs.
Individually, senior Chris Cowell is tied for the national lead with 11
home runs.
Spiders One of Nation's Best Offenses
As Richmond enters its seventh week of the season, the
Spiders can boast one of the Atlantic 10's and the nation's most potent
offensive attacks. Richmond ranks first
in the country in home runs (38), second in slugging (.525), and fourth in OPS
(.925).
In the Record Book
With his 11 home runs this season, senior Chris Cowell is
now in eighth place all-time in school history with 35 career home runs. Cowell is sits just one homer behind
seventh-place Nic Jackson. Vito
Chiaravalotti is the all-time leader with 61 career home runs.
