Baseball: Richmond Wins Slugfest
February 22, 2004 04:26 PM | General
February 22, 2004
CHARLESTON, S.C. – Jim Fasano and A.J. Board combined for four home runs and 15 RBI to lead Richmond past West Virginia in a slugfest, 21-13, Sunday afternoon at the Homewood Suites Shootout at Riley Park.
Board went 4 for 5 with two three-run home runs, two doubles and a Richmond-record 10 RBI, while Fasano blasted a three-run homer and a solo shot to lead the Spiders.
WVU (1-2) began the scoring in the first inning when senior Jake Serfass crushed a triple to centerfield and was driven in on an RBI single by Lee Fritz to give West Virginia a 1-0 lead.
Richmond (3-0) tallied four runs in the second inning off freshman starter Travis McGrath, who made his first collegiate start. After the leadoff hitter reached on an error, McGrath walked two runners in and hit another batter with the bases loaded to give the Spiders three easy runs, and Andrew Justice capped off the inning with an RBI single that scored Ben Zeskind.
McGrath lasted one and two-third innings and allowed four runs, all unearned, while allowing no hits and walking five.
Junior Grant Psomas countered in a big way in the third with a three-run homer over the left-centerfield wall, his first of the year, after Lee Fritz led off with a single and Stan Posluszny walked, giving WVU a 5-4 lead.
The Mountaineers added three more runs in the fourth inning as Richmond reliever Tim Rice walked a run in with the bases loaded, then Kurtis Clinton delivered a two-run single to put WVU ahead, 8-4.
Richmond responded with a mammoth three-run home run by Fasano over the right field wall off Levi Maxwell. After Maxwell walked Josh Farkes and Chris Dolan, Board roped a two-run double that put the Spiders in the lead once again, 9-8.
After WVU tied the game at 9-9 in the sixth inning, Richmond exploded for six runs, the big blasts being a solo home run by Fasano and a three-run homer by Board.
West Virginia once again battled back with a four-run inning in the seventh, led by a three-run double off the bat of Posluszny, but Richmond tallied six more runs in the final two innings to put away WVU.
Maxwell (0-1) picked up the loss for the Mountaineers while Rob Berzinskas (1-0) earned the victory in relief.
The Mountaineers return to action on Friday, Feb. 27, when they face Marist at 2 p.m., and UNC-Wilmington at 5 p.m., at the Hughes Brothers Baseball Challenge in Wilmington, N.C.
