University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Ready For Pair Of Midweek, In-State Games
04/07/2014 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team will face a pair of in-state rivals in midweek games on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Spiders will head to Lynchburg, Va. to face Liberty on Tuesday before going to Lexington, Va. to go against VMI on Wednesday. Both games are slated for 6 p.m. starts.
Tuesday's game against Liberty can be viewed live on WatchESPN, while Wednesday's contest at VMI will have live video available at RichmondSpiders.com.
Scouting the Spiders
The Richmond Spiders come in to the week with an overall record of 14-14-1 on the season overall. Despite dropping two of three games to La Salle this past weekend, the Spiders have won six of their last eight contests.
Leading the way for Richmond on offense this season has been sophomore 1B Doug Kraeger and 3B Matt Dacey. Kraeger leads the team with a .322 batting average and 10 doubles, while Dacey leads the Atlantic 10 with seven home runs and the team with 30 RBI. On the year, the Spiders are hitting .271 with 52 doubles, 20 homers and 153 RBI.
Junior LHP Zak Sterling has led the Richmond pitching staff this season, posting team bests in wins (3), ERA (2.40), innings pitched (45.0) and strikeouts (34). RHP Ryan Cook has totaled five saves on the season, while RHP Dan Martinson has two. As a staff, the Spiders have posted an ERA of 4.93 with 203 strikeouts in 261.0 innings pitched.
Scouting the Flames
The Liberty Flames come in to Tuesday's game with the Spiders with an overall record of 25-8 on the season. Liberty is playing its best baseball of the year, having won 11 of their last 12 games and not allowing an opponent to score in 27 innings. Entering the week, Liberty is ranked No. 18 in the country in RPI.
Earlier this season, Liberty defeated Richmond, 11-6, at the UNF Best Bet Classic in Jacksonville. In that game, both Tyler Beckwith and Tanner Stanley drove in a pair of runs for the Spiders in the loss.
Scouting the Keydets
The VMI Keydets enter the week with an overall record of 16-13 on the season, having lost three straight shutouts at Liberty this past weekend. Prior to the weekend, however, the Keydets had been playing well, winning seven of their previous eight games.
Pitching has been the strength this season for VMI, as the team has posted an ERA of 3.92. Offensively, VMI is hitting .257 as a team with 49 doubles, five homers and 123 RBI. Before the season, VMI was tabbed to finish sixth in the North Division of the Big South in a poll conducted of the league's head coaches.
On Deck…
After its pair of midweek games, the Richmond Spiders will return to Pitt Field on Friday to begin a three-game, A-10 series with cross-town rival VCU.
