University of Richmond Athletics
Richmond Baseball to Play at La Salle this Weekend
03/29/2012 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. - The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will open up Atlantic 10 conference play this weekend at La Salle. The three-game series gets underway on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Live stats for all three games can be found at RichmondSpiders.com.
Scouting the Spiders
The Richmond Spiders come in to the weekend set with the La
Salle Explorers with an overall record of 13-9 on the year. In their final non-conference weekend of the
year, the Spiders dropped a pair of games at Pitt Field to the Northeastern
Huskies before falling in a midweek game to William and Mary.
Richmond has been terrific at the plate this season, especially when it comes to playing long-ball. The Spiders lead the country with 39 home runs this season and also rank second in slugging (.520) and fourth in the nation in OPS (.916). Senior Phil Ruzbarsky leads the team with a .400 batting average, while classmate Chris Cowell is tied for second in the country with 11 homers on the campaign.
On the mound, freshman Andrew Blum has posted a 3-1 record and a team-best 3.99 ERA to lead the Spiders' staff. Junior Jacob Mayers leads the team with four wins on the year and has struck out 37 batters in 37.1 innings pitched. Sophomore Andrew Brockett has three saves out of the bullpen for Richmond.
Scouting the
Explorers
La Salle comes in to the weekend series with the Spiders
playing some of its best baseball on the season having won eight of their last
10 contests. Last weekend, the Explorers
opened up A-10 conference play by taking two of three on the road at George
Washington. In midweek action, La Salle
beat Lafayette, 11-2.
Offensively, La Salle has been solid in its first 24 games of the season, posting a team batting average of .273. Junior Joe Bennie leads the team hitting .326 with four home runs, while classmate Dan Klem has driven in a team-best 16 runs on the year. Senior Marc Schoch has also been good for La Salle, hitting .318 with 10 doubles.
The pitching staff has been the strength of the Explorers in 2012, recording a team ERA of just 4.51, fifth-best in the Atlantic 10. Senior Kevin Christy has been pitching well for La Salle, posting a 2.50 ERA with 43 strikeouts in just 36 innings pitched. Out of the bullpen, junior Pat Christensen has tallied six saves for the Explorers, allowing opponents to hit .247 against him.
The Series
Dating back to the 2006 season, the Spiders have posted a
record of 8-4 against the Explorers.
Richmond has won the last three series between the two teams, sweeping
La Salle in 2008 and taking two of three in both 2009 and 2011.
