University of Richmond Athletics
University of Richmond
5-1
Sacred Heart
0-4
Spider Baseball Offense Explodes in 23-2 Victory Over Sacred Heart
02/26/2022 | Baseball
The 23 Spider runs scored were the most since 2015, when Richmond defeated Yale 30-2, also on 22 hits.
Richmond starter Brock Weirather (Polk City, Fla.) took a perfect game into the fifth, allowing the first Sacred Heart batter to reach on a walk and then hit the next SHU batter. Weirather got the double-play and a strike out to get out of the jam. Weirather (1-0) gave up two hits, allowed one earned run in the sixth, while mowing down six in six innings of work in the victory.
The Spiders jumped on the Sacred Heart pitchers, taking a quick 2-0 lead in the first. Alden Mathes (Broomall, Pa.) collected his first of two triples on a 4-for-6 day with four RBI to score Christian Beal (Flossmoor, Ill.) from first. Jake Elbeery (North Andover, Mass.) extended his hitting streak to three games with a base hit, allowing Mathes to jog in.
With two on in the third, Andrew Papantonis (Lebanon Township, N.J.) singled in Elbeery to keep the offense going. Johnny Hipsman (Chester, N.Y.) followed with a fielder's choice to score Jared Sprague-Lott and push the Spiders lead to 4-0.
Everything was clicking for the Spider offense in the fifth as 13 UR batters came to the plate, scoring seven runs on three hits, three walks and two SHU errors.
The hits and runs kept coming in the sixth for Richmond. Zach Lass (Mechanicsville, Va.) led off with a double to left then advanced to third on a wild pitch, and jogged home on Beal's double to left. Mathes picked up his own double to right center, scoring Beal. Elbeery and Sprague-Lott hit back-to-back singles, before D.J. Pacheco (Danvers, Mass.) doubled off the left field wall to score Elbeery, collecting his first collegiate hit and RBI. Hipsman picked up Sprague-Lott and Pacheco with a double to left center and then scored on Lass' single to left. Mathes tallied another triple to score Lass and Beal before scoring on Toso's base hit to tally the Spiders 10th run of the inning.
Freshman Matthew Anderson (Ponte Vedra Beach, Fla.) took over for Weirather in the seventh, making his first collegiate appearance for Richmond. Anderson worked around two hits and a walk to keep Sacred Heart off the board. Coming back out for the eighth, Anderson surrendered one run on a hit and an error.
Richmond added two more runs in the eighth, extending the lead to 23-2.
Harrison Clifton (Henrico, Va.) made his Richmond debut on the mound in the ninth. Clifton got a pop up, ground out and sealed the victory with a strikeout.
Richmond and Sacred Heart will meet again Sunday at Pitt Field. First pitch is set for noon on ESPN Plus.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Weirather, Brock (1-0)
L: Jake McDowell (0-1)
Batting:
2B: Joe Emerson 1 ; Dante D'amore 1
RBI: Joe Emerson 1 ; Nick Jaskolski 1
SF: Nick Jaskolski 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Dante D'amore 1 ; Joey Skarad 1
HBP: Sam Mongelli 1
Batting:
2B: Beal, Christian 1 ; Mathes, Alden 1 ; Sprague-Lott, Jared 1 ; Pacheco, D.J. 1 ; Hipsman, Johnny 1 ; Lass, Zach 1
3B: Mathes, Alden 2
RBI: Beal, Christian 1 ; Mathes, Alden 4 ; Toso, Dominic 2 ; Elbeery, Jake 2 ; Sprague-Lott, Jared 1 ; Papantonis, Andrew 1 ; Pacheco, D.J. 3 ; Gersky, Will 1 ; Hipsman, Johnny 4 ; Lass, Zach 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Beal, Christian 4 ; Mathes, Alden 4 ; Conklin, Chase 1 ; Toso, Dominic 2 ; Elbeery, Jake 3 ; Sprague-Lott, Jared 2 ; Papantonis, Andrew 1 ; Pacheco, D.J. 1 ; Gersky, Will 1 ; Hipsman, Johnny 1 ; Lass, Zach 3
SB: Mathes, Alden 1
HBP: Conklin, Chase 1 ; Toso, Dominic 1 ; Sprague-Lott, Jared 2 ; Papantonis, Andrew 2
