Baseball Rallies but Falls Late at Virginia Tech

Tuesday, March 12

Blacksburg, VA

4 PM

University of Richmond

8-3

Virginia Tech

10-5

Richmond

Virginia Tech

Photo by: Keith Lucas

03/12/2019 | Baseball

Box Score

BLACKSBURG, Va. – After falling behind 6-1, the Spider pitching staff held the Virginia Tech Hokie offense scoreless over the next four innings. The Spiders mounted their comeback and tied the game in the top of the seventh, but the Hokies thwarted Richmond's rally attempt with two runs in the bottom of the eighth inning. The Spiders drop just their third game of the season, falling to 8-3. Virginia Tech improves to 10-5 with the win.

Freshman Jacob Marcus (Malvern, Pa.) got started on the hill, going 2.2 innings. Marcus allowed four hits and six earned runs before giving way to the bullpen. Jacob Lamb (Salisbury, Conn.) worked 2.1 innings scattering two hits and striking out two. Lowell Schipper (Santa Monica, Calif.) was next out, working a perfect inning. Antonio Balducci (Mechanicsville, Va.) suffered the loss after throwing 1.1 innings, allowing a hit, a run and a walk to go with a strikeout. Brian Craven (Hingham, Mass.) gave up a run without recording an out and Layne Looney (Dallas, Texas) recorded the final two outs.

Richmond's offense connected on 10 hits in the contest, led by a pair of three-hit days from Tyler Plantier (Poway, Calif.) and Anthony Forte (Hoffman Estates, Ill.). Forte drove in three runs in the contest to go with a double. Richmond recorded three doubles in the contest as Plantier and Kyle Schmidt (Smithville, Texas) each connected for two-baggers.

Virginia Tech got on the board first, scoring a pair of runs in the first inning. Two walks and a single loaded the bases to start the frame before a sacrifice fly and a single brought in the first two runs of the game.

Richmond answered in the top of the second, plating a run. Forte doubled down the right field line to lead off the inning and moved up after a Sage Bruhl (Northbrook, Ill.) ground out. Justin Cook (Virginia Beach, Va.) drove a ball to left field to bring in the Spider run and cut the lead in half.

The Hokies hung a crooked number up in the bottom of the third, scoring four runs on three hits and were aided by a walk and a balk in the frame.

The Spiders got a run back in the top of the fifth. Schmidt doubled to left center to start the frame and moved to third after a Davis Payne (Rexford, N.Y.) single. Daniel Little (Nicholasville, Ky.) lifted a sacrifice fly down the line in left that was deep enough to score Schmidt and cut the lead down to 6-2.

Richmond added another run in the top of the sixth. Plantier started the frame with a double to left center and moved up on a wild pitch. Forte knocked a ground ball to the shortstop, scoring Plantier and cutting the lead in half.

The Spiders opened it up with a two-out rally in the top of the seventh inning, scoring three runs to tie it up. Three-straight walks loaded the bases, Plantier connected on a sharp grounder that was deflected off a diving Hokie third baseman to allow just one run to score on the single. Forte followed with a single up the middle to plate a pair and knot the game at six runs each.

VT rallied in the bottom of the eighth inning, scoring two runs to take the lead. After a lead-off single and a sacrifice bunt, back-to-back walks loaded the bases. A passed ball allowed the first run to score, before a pop fly to shallow left field, caught by the shortstop was deep enough to score another to add to the lead.

Richmond and Virginia Tech return to English Field at Union Park tomorrow evening at 4 p.m.

-- UR --