University of Richmond Athletics
Spider Baseball Hosts VCU This Weekend At Pitt Field
04/10/2014 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will begin a three-game, Atlantic 10 series with the VCU Rams on Friday at Pitt Field.
Friday's series opener is scheduled for a 3 p.m. first pitch, while both Saturday and Sunday's games are slated for 1 p.m. starts. Live stats and live video via SpiderTV will be available at RichmondSpiders.com.
Probable Starting Pitchers
Friday – 3 PM
Richmond – RHP James Lively
VCU – LHP Heath Dwyer
Saturday – 1 PM
Richmond – LHP Zak Sterling
VCU – TBA
Sunday – 1 PM
Richmond – TBA
VCU – LHP JoJo Howie
Scouting the Spiders
The University of Richmond Spiders come in to the weekend with an overall record of 14-16-1 on the season and a mark of 5-4 in Atlantic 10 conference play. The Spiders dropped a pair of hard-fought, midweek games on the road to Liberty and VMI this past Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Spiders have been led offensively by sophomore 1B Doug Kraeger, who leads the team with a .325 batting average and 11 doubles. 3B Matt Dacey has hit an A-10 leading eight home runs and leads the Spiders with 32 RBI on the year. Reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year Tanner Stanley is having another great year, hitting .311 with four homers, nine doubles, three triples and 21 RBI.
The Richmond pitching staff has been solid this season, led by junior LHP Zak Sterling. Sterling leads the Spiders in wins (3), ERA (2.40) innings pitched (45.0) and strikeouts (34). Junior Ryan Cook leads the team with five saves on the season.
Scouting the Rams
The VCU Rams come to Pitt Field this weekend with an overall record of 23-7 on the season and a conference mark of 5-2. The Rams swept St. Bonaventure at The Diamond and picked up a pair of wins against Saint Joseph's this past weekend.
Offense has been the strength of VCU this season, as the Rams are hitting .310 as a team with 56 doubles, four homers and 188 RBI. Pitching has been solid as well, as the VCU staff has recorded a team ERA of 3.62.
Winners of three of their last four contests, the Rams were picked to finish second in the Atlantic 10 this season in a preseason poll conducted by the league's coaches despite not making the conference tournament a year ago.
On Deck…
After their three-game series with the Rams this weekend, the Spiders will host in-state rival VMI at Pitt Field on Tuesday at 3 p.m.
