March 22, 2008
Box Score
RICHMOND, VA - Brian Meagher jump started the La Salle University Baseball offense with a solo home run in the fifth and the Explorers were up 3-0 after the frame, but Richmond scored six unanswered after that to register a 6-4 win on Saturday at Pitt Field and sweep the three-game Atlantic 10 series.
After 25 runs were scored on Friday, both starting pitchers in Saturday's contest cruised through the first four innings not allowing a single run. In fact, La Salle starter Kevin Fuqua did not allow a hit until the fifth inning.
In the top of that frame, the Explorers gave him a three-run lead thanks to a lead-off home run by Meagher and back-to-back RBI with the bases loaded.
After the home run, Mike Canfarotta drew a walk, Shane Frangiosa reached on an error and Justin Handler was hit by a pitch. John Rickards then followed with a single through the left side to drive in a run - his 100th career RBI - and Mike Dertouzos drew a walk to make it 3-0.
However, as they did in Friday's game, the Spiders answered an Explorer rally with one of their own, not only breaking up the no-hitter, but the shutout and took the lead.
Three straight hits by Richmond loaded the bases before Fuqua got the first out of the inning with a strikeout. He then got Evan Stehle to hit a grounder, but an error allowed two runners to cross the plate and back-to-back hits scored two more to give the Spiders a 4-3 lead.
Richmond (11-11-1, 3-0 A-10) pushed two more across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning on a two-RBI single to left field by Chris Cuppia to give the Spiders a 6-3 advantage.
In the ninth, Canfarotta singled with one out and scored on a Handler single to right field, but Richmond reliever Matt Zielinski got the final out to secure the victory. He pitched 4.2 innings out of the pen and allowed just the Canfarotta run to earn his first win of the season. Fuqua drops to 2-3 with the loss.
La Salle (4-18, 0-3 A-10) next plays in the first round of the Liberty Bell Classic on Tuesday afternoon against Temple. Again, that game is now being played at Temple's Ambler field starting at 3 PM.
