University of Richmond Athletics
Spiders Head To A-10 Leading Saint Joseph's
05/01/2014 | Baseball
UNIVERSITY OF RICHMOND, Va. – The University of Richmond Spiders baseball team heads to Philadelphia this weekend to face Atlantic 10-leading Saint Joseph's this weekend.
The three-game series gets underway on Friday, with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. Saturday and Sunday's contests are slated for 1 p.m. starts. Live stats for all three games can be found at RichmondSpiders.com.
Scouting the Spiders
The University of Spiders come in to this weekend's series with the Hawks with an overall record of 18-22-1 on the season and a mark of 9-9 in conference play. Richmond is currently tied for sixth place in the A-10, with seven teams earning bids to the Atlantic 10 Tournament at the end of the year.
Leading the way offensively for the Spiders this season has been sophomore 1B Doug Kraeger, who is hitting a team-high .325 with 13 doubles. 3B Matt Dacey leads the A-10 with nine home runs and has driven in a team-best 37 runs.
On the mound, junior LHP Zak Sterling leads the team in wins (4), ERA (2.64), innings pitched (64.2) and strikeouts (45). RHP Ryan Cook, who leads the team with five saves, has moved from the bullpen to the rotation and has excelled in his past two starts.
Scouting the Hawks
The Saint Joseph's Hawks come in to the weekend with an overall record of 27-10 one the season and a mark of 12-5 in league action. Saint Joseph's, who did not make the A-10 Tournament last season, is leading the conference this season with three weekends left.
The offense has been impressive for the Hawks this season, as seven players are hitting above .300 on the year, with Mike Muha leading the team with a .371 average. As a team, Saint Joseph's is hitting .295 on the year with 20 homers and 234 RBI.
While the offense has excelled, the pitching has been great as well, with the Hawks posting a team ERA of 3.57 on the season. Both Daniel Thorpe and Jordan Carter have won seven games each for SJU, while Steven Schuler has saved a team-best four games.
On Deck…
After its three-game series with the Hawks, the Spiders will have a pair of midweek road contests. Richmond heads to Coppin State on Tuesday before heading to NC State on Wednesday, where Spider head coach Tracy Woodson played his All-American career.
