Spiders' Late Rally Falls Short Against #13 Louisville on Opening Day

Friday, February 16

Charleston, S.C.

12 PM

University of Richmond

0-1

#13 Louisville

1-0

Richmond

Louisville

Spiders' Late Rally Falls Short Against #13 Louisville on Opening Day

02/16/2018 | Baseball

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CHARLESTON, S.C. – Who doesn't love a little late inning rally on Opening Day? The Richmond Spider Baseball team sure gave College World Series participant, #13 Louisville a challenge in the opening game of the Charleston Crab House Classic.

The Spiders were held scoreless heading to the ninth inning, but that all changed with three-straight singles sparked by Kyle Schmidt. The late inning magic fell just short as the Spiders dropped a close contest to the Cards, 4-3.

"I am so proud of the way these guys played today," said head coach Tracy Woodson. "This team proved what we already knew about them, they can compete, but we have to keep going out there and getting better each day. The pitching was great, we need that effort every day. I hope that these guys are just as proud of the way they played throughout the game."

Louisville jumped out to an early 2-0 lead with an RBI single from Devin Mann and Ethan Stringer's solo homer.

The Spiders looked to get on the board and in the third as Tyler Plantier led off the inning with a single. Richmond threatened with a pair of runners, but a strikeout ended the inning and Louisville preserved their 2-0 lead.

Back-to-back walks led off the sixth as the Spiders threatened again and sent the Cards to their bullpen. A sacrifice bunt put the runners in scoring position, but Vinny Capra was thrown out at the plate.

The Cards tacked on a run in the bottom half of the sixth with a solo shot, and added one more in the eighth to make it a 4-0 game.

Richmond's late rally came with the three singles before Sage Bruhl drew a bases loaded walk to bring in the first run. A two-run single from D.J. Lee cut Louisville's lead to one, 4-3, but the Cards would maintain their small lead to pull out the win.

Tim Miller earned the Opening Day nod and tossed five innings. The right-hander scattered four hits, allowed just one walk, and struck out a career-best four.

The Spiders will return to action tomorrow with a familiar foe, George Mason. Despite being conference opponents the two teams will square off in a neutral site game as part of the Charleston Crab House Classic. First pitch is scheduled for 11:00 a.m.