March 10, 2009

BULLDOGS HAVE FIVE-GAME WIN-STREAK SNAPPED; LOSE CLOSE, 7-6, GAME AT RICHMOND

March 10, 2009

BULLDOGS HAVE FIVE-GAME WIN-STREAK SNAPPED; LOSE CLOSE, 7-6, GAME AT RICHMOND

RICHMOND, VA. - Sophomore Billy Barber hit an RBI double down the left field line in the bottom of the eighth inning to lift the University of Richmond past Bryant, 7-6, Tuesday afternoon, snapping the Bulldogs' five-game win streak. The loss drops Bryant to 5-1 on its spring break road trip.

The Spiders (9-1), who have only lost one game this season in a 14-12 defeat at the hands of Seton Hall, had their three through six hitters combine to go eight-for-17 in the game with four RBI to help them to their ninth victory of the year.

Bryant (5-3) continued to get hot hitting from senior catcher Jeff Vigurs (South Windsor, Conn.), as he smashed his third homerun of the year, finishing the day with three more hits to push his team-leading batting average to .457 on the season.

Freshman right-hander Rocco Cundari (Norwalk, Conn.) was called upon by head coach Jamie Pinzino to make the start. The freshman surrendered five runs with just two being earned while going 3.2 innings and striking out three.

Richmond scored in each of the first four innings, with two coming in the third after Barber scored on an error and Chris Cuppia hit a sacrifice fly, giving the Spiders a 4-2 lead at the time. The home team added another in the fourth on a Barber single off Cundari to give Richmond a, 5-2, advantage before Nick Laude (Wells, Maine) came in to shut the door.

Bryant had scored single runs in the second and third innings on a homer by Pat O'Connor (Mattapoisett, Mass.) to lead off the second and a triple by Nick Campbell (Raynham, Mass.) with two outs in the third. Trailing 5-2, the squad got right back into the game by tallying twice in the fifth on a pair of sacrifice flies by O'Connor and Campbell, cutting the deficit to one.

Spider starting pitcher Matt Zielinski was pulled to start the sixth inning after allowing four runs on seven hits through the first five. Jared Bard was brought in for the sixth, and the Bulldogs got to him on a Dylan Stone (Portsmouth, R.I.) to tie the game at 5-5. Stone went three-for-five in the contest with two runs scored and one RBI.

After Richmond responded with a run in the bottom of the sixth to reclaim a, 6-5, lead, Vigurs stepped up and blasted a homerun down the left field line off Bard to tie the game once again with one out in the seventh.

Sophomore lefthander Mark Andrews (Hillsborough, N.J.) was strong once again in relief, going 2.1 innings after coming in for Laude in the sixth inning. He allowed just two hits and one run while setting down two on strikes.

Barber stepped up against Andrews in the bottom of the eight with one out and laced a go-ahead double down the line in left. The run would prove to be the game-winner, as the Bulldogs could not muster a run against Brian Alas, the all-time career saves leader in Richmond Spiders history.

Bryant will have another shot at the Spiders on Wednesday afternoon before closing out the three-game series on Thursday (2 p.m.).

Richmond 7, Bryant 6 (Mar 10, 2009 at Richmond, Va.)
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Bryant.............. 011 021 100 - 6 11 4 (5-3)
Richmond............ 112 101 01X - 7 13 4 (9-1)
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Pitchers: Bryant - Rocco Cundari; Nick Laude(4); Mark Andrews(6). Richmond - Zielinski;
Bard(6); Horn(8); Alas(9).
Win-Horn(3-0) Save-Alas(4) Loss-Mark Andrews(0-2) T-3:00 A-234
HR BRY - Pat O'Connor (2); Jeff Vigurs (3).
Weather: Overcast, 55 degrees