Sophomore lefty Bret Williams gave Richmond eight strong innings and the offense pounded out 15 hits in his support as the Spiders won their sixth-straight game by beating Old Dominion, 8-3, Tuesday night in Norfolk.
Freshman SS Mike Small and junior LF Phil Ruzbarksy each had three hits and Ruzbarsky drove in a pair for Richmond, which improved to 10-10-2 overall, spilt the season series with ODU and is now 3-1-2 this season versus teams from the Commonwealth.
Williams scattered seven hits and three runs (two earned), fanned five and walked none as the sophomore improved to 3-0.
Richmond got the offense going early, as Matt Zink singled and Mike Mergenthaler doubled off ODU starter Joe Haumacher in the first inning. The Spiders took a 1-0 lead thanks to Ruzbarsky’s sacrifice fly.
After the Monarchs (10-13) tied it in the fourth and took the lead in the sixth with Josh Wright’s solo homer, the Spiders got the sticks going in the seventh to regain the lead for good.
Small started the rally with a single, stole second and came home on Zink’s RBI single. Zink then swiped second, Mergenthaler walked and Zink scored when Ruzbarsky ripped the go-ahead RBI single to left.
Two more came home when Billy Barber, seeing his first action since Feb. 26 rifled a single to the right-field gap to cap the decisive four-run uprising.
The Spiders out-hit the Monarchs, 15-9, including doubles from Williams, Mergenthaler and Small. But Richmond kept the small-ball pressure on all night by swiping five bases (seven attempts) and successfully sacrificing four times.
Haumacher allowed just a run and five hits in six innings and turned a 2-1 lead over to his bullpen in the seventh. Reliever Ben Verlander was dealt the loss as he was tagged for four runs on four hits in the seventh inning.
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Chris Graham
