University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
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North Carolina A&T
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Looney Shines As Spiders Drop North Carolina A&T, 3-1
02/18/2017 | Baseball
MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. – Sophomore Layne Looney may remember Saturday, Feburary 18, 2017 for a while.
Looney took the hill for his first collegiate start and was outstanding, leading the University of Richmond baseball team to its first win of the season, 3-1, over the Aggies of North Carolina A&T.
“Layne was outstanding. Any time you have a guy come out and put together his best outing of his career in his first appearance of the season, that's always a great thing to see,” Head Coach Tracy Woodson said. “He allowed our defense to make plays and really set the tone for us all afternoon long.”
Looney tossed a career-high six innings, allowing no earned runs and racking up a career-best six strikeouts.
“It felt great. I had a good feel for all my pitches and my teammates made the plays behind me,” Looney said. “It was good to get the first one out of the way and we're excited to get back out there tomorrow.”
Junior Daniel Brumbaugh had his second straight multi-hit performance, going 2-for-4 on the day, while sophomore Caleb Ward also went 2-for-4 in the win. Six different Spiders had a hit on the day as Richmond put together their second straight double-digit hit performance, finishing with 10 on the day.
“We had some good at-bats today and we were able to do enough to get the win,” Woodson said. “We need to keep working on taking advantage of the opportunities when we have them. Tomorrow's a new day and another chance to continue to get better.”
Richmond jumped out early when Jonathan de Marte ripped a single up the middle to start the second. Brumbaugh followed by lacing a triple over the right fielder's head to plate de Marte and grab a 1-0 lead.
Two batters later, in his first collegiate at bat, freshman Ryan Shaw lofted a sacrifice fly to center to score Brumbaugh and give the Spiders a 2-0 cushion.
North Carolina A&T would respond with an unearned run in the bottom of the third, but a caught stealing and a strike out looking quieted the Aggies rally as Richmond held onto the 2-1 lead.
As good teams do, the Spiders responded right back when Ward and Shaw ripped back-to-back singles and moved to second and third after a sacrifice bunt by Kyle Schmidt. RJ Watters followed with an RBI single to center field to push Richmond's lead to 3-1.
That was all Looney would need, allowing just three runners over the next three frames before turning the ball over to Ward and de Marte. The pair allowed just one base runner over the final three innings, while racking up three strikeouts to preserve the victory.
Richmond returns to action for its final game in Myrtle Beach when they take on perennial NCAA Tournament contender St. John's at 11 a.m. on Sunday.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Looney, Layne (1-0)
L: BOTTENFIELD (0-1)
S: de Marte, Jonathan (1)
Batting:
2B: Capra, Vinny 1
3B: Brumbaugh, Daniel 1
RBI: Brumbaugh, Daniel 1 ; Shaw, Ryan 1 ; Watters, RJ 1
SH: Schmidt, Kyle 2
SF: Shaw, Ryan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: de Marte, Jonathan 1 ; Brumbaugh, Daniel 1 ; Ward, Caleb 1
SB: Watters, RJ 1
HBP: de Marte, Jonathan 1
Base Running:
RUNS: SOWELL,Myles 1
CS: RIVERA,M. 1
