University of Richmond Athletics
Photo by: Spiders Athletics
2020 Season Recap
05/22/2020 | Baseball
RICHMOND, Va. – Richmond baseball closed the books on the 2020 season two months early due to the COVID-19 global pandemic. The Spiders competed in 17 games before the season was cut short. During that time, Richmond competed with some of the top talent in the nation and was preparing to begin the always challenging Atlantic 10 schedule before the cancellation.
Richmond opened the season against the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia's starting pitchers in the first two games of the season are projected to be drafted in this year's shortened MLB Draft in June. The Spiders played the Bulldogs tough, falling in a pair of one-run games on opening weekend. Sophomore Johnny Hipsman (Chester, N.Y.) hit the Spiders' first home run on opening weekend and newcomer Dominic Toso (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit a pair of long balls in the series with the Bulldogs.
Spider baseball opened the home schedule at Pitt Field on the wrong side as it fell to James Madison. Richmond got into the win column the next weekend, defeating Lehigh in two of three games at Pitt Field. After dropping four-straight, Richmond hit the road for a week-long trip to Charleston, South Carolina.
Charleston began what could have been a turning point for the Spider baseball season. Richmond opened the week at Shipyard Park as part of the Swig and Swine College Classic with a dominating 13-4 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne with a gutsy effort from redshirt junior starting pitcher Tim Miller (Wayne, Pa.). Miller threw his first career complete game as he struck out four hitters and scattering nine hits. Over the final five innings, just four Mastodons reached base against Miller. Graduate transfer Dan Leckie (Suffield, Conn.) drove in four runs in the win over PFW, finishing 3-for-3 and scored twice.
The Spiders played tough the following night against a tough Ball State team before falling 2-1 in extra innings and dropping the Sunday contest with the Yale Bulldogs at Shipyard Park. Richmond got back on track with two midweek games against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Freshman lefty Jeremy Neff (West Palm Beach, Fla.) started Tuesday's contest, throwing 6.0 quality innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out a pair. Mason Majors (Kansas City, Mo.) and Antonio Balducci (Mechanicsville, Va.) threw back-to-back shutout innings to set the stage for center fielder Jordan Schulefand (Parkland, Fla.) to close it out. Schulefand tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his first save as all three pitchers struck out two hitters in relief.
Toso led the Spider offense in the opener against the Bucs. The junior third baseman finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored, a stolen base and two home runs. Toso got it started early with a solo home run in the top of the first inning before connecting on a two-run shot to break open a tie game and keep the Spiders ahead.
In what became the final game of the season, the Spiders came from behind to earn a 14-7 win. After falling behind 5-1, Richmond scored 13 runs over the final four innings to earn the win. Eight pitchers combined for the win. Junior Jarrad DeLarso (Marlton, N.J.) earned the victory, coming on in the sixth inning with two outs. He threw 1.1 shutout innings with a strikeout before giving way to James Hulbert (Harrison, N.Y.). Hulbert worked 2.0 innings to earn his second save of the season after entering with an 8-5 lead in the eighth. The offense used a steady, patient approach in the top of the ninth inning to score six runs, to put the game out of reach.
The Spiders were scheduled to host Harvard, Monmouth and UConn in the Spider Invitational the following weekend when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of the 2020 season, freshman Alden Mathes (Broomall, Pa.) led the Spiders with a .375 average, playing in 14 games with 12 starts. Toso was the team leader in home runs, connecting on five during the year and driving in a team-high 17 runs. Fellow newcomer Drew Blakely (Galesburg, Mich.) hit for a .296 average in 16 games and drove in 16 runs hitting in the middle of the lineup during the season. Senior Justin Cook (Virginia Beach, Va.) came on strong over the final six games, driving in nine of his 12 runs for the season during that stretch.
The weekend rotation featured Miller, redshirt sophomore Collin Lowe (Ridgefield, Conn.) and sophomore Jacob Marcus (Malvern, Pa.) with Neff handling the majority of the midweek games. Miller, Lowe, Marcus and Neff each started four games, each throwing 17 or more innings, led by 23.0 from Lowe. Marcus led the pitching staff with 23 strikeouts in his 20.0 innings of work. Miller led the team with a 2-0 mark.
Balducci and DeLarso were the workhorses out of the bullpen with each racking up nine relief appearances. Balducci earned a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings of work, striking out 12 hitters. DeLarso earned a 1-1 mark with 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Hulbert led the team with a pair of saves as Schulefand and Mathes each earned one save.
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Richmond opened the season against the fourth-ranked Georgia Bulldogs. Georgia's starting pitchers in the first two games of the season are projected to be drafted in this year's shortened MLB Draft in June. The Spiders played the Bulldogs tough, falling in a pair of one-run games on opening weekend. Sophomore Johnny Hipsman (Chester, N.Y.) hit the Spiders' first home run on opening weekend and newcomer Dominic Toso (Philadelphia, Pa.) hit a pair of long balls in the series with the Bulldogs.
Spider baseball opened the home schedule at Pitt Field on the wrong side as it fell to James Madison. Richmond got into the win column the next weekend, defeating Lehigh in two of three games at Pitt Field. After dropping four-straight, Richmond hit the road for a week-long trip to Charleston, South Carolina.
Charleston began what could have been a turning point for the Spider baseball season. Richmond opened the week at Shipyard Park as part of the Swig and Swine College Classic with a dominating 13-4 victory over Purdue Fort Wayne with a gutsy effort from redshirt junior starting pitcher Tim Miller (Wayne, Pa.). Miller threw his first career complete game as he struck out four hitters and scattering nine hits. Over the final five innings, just four Mastodons reached base against Miller. Graduate transfer Dan Leckie (Suffield, Conn.) drove in four runs in the win over PFW, finishing 3-for-3 and scored twice.
The Spiders played tough the following night against a tough Ball State team before falling 2-1 in extra innings and dropping the Sunday contest with the Yale Bulldogs at Shipyard Park. Richmond got back on track with two midweek games against the Charleston Southern Buccaneers. Freshman lefty Jeremy Neff (West Palm Beach, Fla.) started Tuesday's contest, throwing 6.0 quality innings, allowing four earned runs and striking out a pair. Mason Majors (Kansas City, Mo.) and Antonio Balducci (Mechanicsville, Va.) threw back-to-back shutout innings to set the stage for center fielder Jordan Schulefand (Parkland, Fla.) to close it out. Schulefand tossed a scoreless ninth to earn his first save as all three pitchers struck out two hitters in relief.
Toso led the Spider offense in the opener against the Bucs. The junior third baseman finished 3-for-4 with three RBI, three runs scored, a stolen base and two home runs. Toso got it started early with a solo home run in the top of the first inning before connecting on a two-run shot to break open a tie game and keep the Spiders ahead.
In what became the final game of the season, the Spiders came from behind to earn a 14-7 win. After falling behind 5-1, Richmond scored 13 runs over the final four innings to earn the win. Eight pitchers combined for the win. Junior Jarrad DeLarso (Marlton, N.J.) earned the victory, coming on in the sixth inning with two outs. He threw 1.1 shutout innings with a strikeout before giving way to James Hulbert (Harrison, N.Y.). Hulbert worked 2.0 innings to earn his second save of the season after entering with an 8-5 lead in the eighth. The offense used a steady, patient approach in the top of the ninth inning to score six runs, to put the game out of reach.
The Spiders were scheduled to host Harvard, Monmouth and UConn in the Spider Invitational the following weekend when the season was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
At the end of the 2020 season, freshman Alden Mathes (Broomall, Pa.) led the Spiders with a .375 average, playing in 14 games with 12 starts. Toso was the team leader in home runs, connecting on five during the year and driving in a team-high 17 runs. Fellow newcomer Drew Blakely (Galesburg, Mich.) hit for a .296 average in 16 games and drove in 16 runs hitting in the middle of the lineup during the season. Senior Justin Cook (Virginia Beach, Va.) came on strong over the final six games, driving in nine of his 12 runs for the season during that stretch.
The weekend rotation featured Miller, redshirt sophomore Collin Lowe (Ridgefield, Conn.) and sophomore Jacob Marcus (Malvern, Pa.) with Neff handling the majority of the midweek games. Miller, Lowe, Marcus and Neff each started four games, each throwing 17 or more innings, led by 23.0 from Lowe. Marcus led the pitching staff with 23 strikeouts in his 20.0 innings of work. Miller led the team with a 2-0 mark.
Balducci and DeLarso were the workhorses out of the bullpen with each racking up nine relief appearances. Balducci earned a 2.31 ERA in 11.2 innings of work, striking out 12 hitters. DeLarso earned a 1-1 mark with 11 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Hulbert led the team with a pair of saves as Schulefand and Mathes each earned one save.
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