University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
Jacksonville
Spiders Fall On The Road To Jacksonville, 9-8
02/24/2013 | Baseball
JACKSONVILLE, Fla. - The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team lost a heart breaker to the Jacksonville Dolphins on Sunday afternoon, 9-8. With the setback, Richmond falls to 5-2 while Jacksonville improves to 3-4.
OF Eric Flanagan went 2-for-4 with three RBI, while OF Matt Zink went 2-for-5 with two runs scored a stolen base to lead the Spider offense. Driving in runs for Richmond in the loss were OF Tanner Stanley, 1B Bret Williams, DH Jansen Fraser and C Aaron Newman.
Reigning Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week Andrew Blum settled down nicely to have a solid afternoon for the Spiders on Sunday. The junior tossed six innings, allowing four runs while striking out five. LHP Dylan Stoops (0-1) pitched well but took the hard to swallow loss for the Spiders.
The Spiders jumped all over the Dolphins in the top of the first inning, pushing across four runs. With the bases loaded and no one out, Williams strode to the plate for Richmond. On a 2-1 count, the senior plated the game's first run with a sacrifice fly to center.
After a passed ball scored freshman OF Tanner Stanley from third base, the bases were again loaded three batters later for Flanagan. Swinging at the first pitch, Flanagan legged out a infield single to the right side, scoring another run. Following Flanagan, Newman plated the fourth run with a RBI groundout, giving the Spiders an early, 4-0 advantage.
Jacksonville responded with a pair of two-out runs in the bottom of the frame, only to see the Spiders fire right back in the top of the second. Fraser scored the first run of the inning with a hard liner that hit the JU pitcher, while Flanagan plated one with a RBI fielder's choice.
Once again, the Dolphins responded with two runs of their own in the bottom of the second, cutting the Richmond lead to 6-4.
After three scoreless innings, Richmond got back on the scoreboard in the top of the sixth. With the bases loaded and one away, Flanagan recorded his third RBI of the afternoon, lining the first pitch he saw to left field. After six complete innings, Richmond led Jacksonville, 7-4.
Undeterred, the Dolphins plated three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth to take an 8-7 lead over the Spiders headed to the ninth inning.
In the bottom of the ninth, the Spiders' rally started with a leadoff single from pinch hitter Nick Poulos. Three batters later, the bases were loaded after Mike Small single and Joey Vecchione was hit by a pitch.
With one out and the bases loaded, Stanley slapped a grounder to the JU second baseman. Hustling the entire way, the freshman beat out the attempted double play to score the tying run.
The bottom of the ninth was filled with some calls that did not go the Spiders way. After issuing a walk on a close, 3-2 offering, Stoops had the runner at first picked off. In the ensuing rundown, Small chased the runner back to first and appeared to tag him in the back, but the first base umpire called the runner safe.
After an error, the runners moved to second and third base after a wild pitch. With the outfield playing shallow, JU's Scott Schaub flied out to center field. Vecchione made the catch and fired a rocket to home plate, clearly beating the tagging Dolphin runner, but the home plate umpire called him safe on a sweep slide, winning the game and the series for Jacksonville, 9-8.
The Richmond Spiders baseball team will continue its stretch of eight games in 10 days this week when it hosts a pair of midweek games at Pitt Field. The Spiders will play Old Dominion on Tuesday and Coppin State on Wednesday. Both games are slated for 2:30 p.m. starts.
