March 20, 2008
Box Score
RICHMOND, VA - The La Salle University Baseball team was leading twice in its Atlantic 10 Conference opener with Richmond, but the Spiders scored six unanswered - including a grand slam in the seventh - to take the game, 7-4, Thursday afternoon at Pitt Field.
La Salle opened the scoring in the first on back-to-back two-out hits, as John Malloy first singled through the right side, which was followed by a John Rickards RBI triple down the right field line.
For Rickards, it was his 15th career triple for the Blue and Gold, tying him with Steve O'Donnell (1986-89) for the school's all-time record for triples in a career. He also added a single and double in the game, giving him 286 total bases in his Explorer career, which is good for the 10th spot all-time.
After the Spiders tied the game in the second, La Salle took the lead once again on a sacrifice fly by Malloy. Rick Gehman, who singled to start the fifth, stole second, moved to third on Justin Handler's sacrifice bunt, and scored on the fly ball to center.
Richmond (9-11-1, 1-0 A-10) answered with a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame to take its first lead of the afternoon, despite the ball never leaving the infield. Three infield hits - including two bunts - loaded the bases for the Spiders with no outs.
La Salle starter Jamie Cowan got Ryan Metzroth to ground into a double play, which scored a run to tie the game, and a wild pitch gave the Spiders the lead, as Andrew Lowry scored on the miscue.
Cowan (0-5) suffered the loss for the Explorers after ending his day after six innings of work, allowing three earned runs and striking out two batters.
The Spiders would break the game open in the bottom of the seventh, as - again - they loaded the bases with nobody out. Billy Barber made the Explorers pay this time with a grand slam home run to right field, his fifth straight game with a round tripper. His 10th home run of the season gave Richmond a 7-2 lead.
La Salle (4-16, 0-1 A-10) would cut the deficit to three with a pair of unearned runs in the eighth inning. TJ Chism hit a one-out single, which was followed by a Mike Dertouzos double to center field - a ball which was just feet away from going over the wall.
Brian Meagher then struck out swinging, but the third strike was dropped and when Spider catcher Evan Stehle threw to first, Mike Mergenthaler was unable to handle it and both Chism and Dertouzos came around to score.
Stephen Owens (2-0) won the game for Richmond, after throwing seven innings, allowing two earned runs and striking out two.
The two teams will continue with their three-game series on Friday with a game starting at 3 PM and will conclude it Saturday at 1 PM.
In a schedule change, Tuesday's game with Temple - the Liberty Bell Classic First Round game first scheduled at Hank DeVincent Field - has now been moved to at Temple.
