Richmond, Va. – (April 21, 2023) – Six Spiders had multi-hit games, while Esteban Rodrgiuez threw four innings of two-hit relief, as Richmond took the opening game of a three-game Atlantic 10 series from the Fordham Rams, 15-8, at Pitt Field in Richmond, Virginia.
Fordham (15-23, 3-7 A10) got on the board right away in the first inning, as the Rams loaded the bases on walks to
Cian Sahler and
Peter DeMaria, while
Daniel Bucciero was hit by a pitch.
Zach Selinger then plated two runs with a single up the middle for the initial 2-0 lead.
The Spiders (17-21, 6-4 A10) made it 2-1 in the second, scoring a run on a ground out by Chase Conklin. Richmond then grabbed a 6-2 lead in the third inning, when Jason Neff hit a three-run home run to left, his third of the season, while Jake Elberry connected on a two-run home run to left center, his second of the year.
The Rams cut into the deficit in the fourth inning, as
Ryan Thiesse extended his hit streak to six games with an RBI-single, scoring
Will Findlay, who reached on a double.
Fordham followed with a five-run fifth inning to re-take the lead at 8-6. First, Bucciero singled with one out with
Peter DeMaria blasting a two-run home run to left, his sixth home run of the season, to pull the Rams with one. Selinger and Findlay then reached on a single and a double to put runners at second and third.
Chris Genaro continued the hit parade with a three-run home run to left, his first of the season, for an 8-6 lead.
The Spiders got all those runs back and more, scoring seven times in the bottom of the fifth for a 13-8 lead. Jared Sprague-Lott hit a three-run home run, while Alden Mathes had a two-run double to highlight the inning. The remaining runs came on a passed ball and an RBI-double by Christian Beal.
Richmond scored two more times for their 15-run total, getting an RBI-double by Jordan Jaffe in the sixth and a sacrifice fly by Jaffe in the eighth.
For Fordham, Selinger was 3-for-5 with a pair of RBI, while Findlay was 2-for-5 with two doubles and two runs scored to lead the offense.
Game two of the series on Saturday has been moved to a 10:00 AM start, due to potential weather in the Richmond area.
