April 20, 2013

Box Score

RICHMOND, Va. - It took two days and 12 innings, but the Saint Joseph's baseball team won its series opener at Richmond, 9-7, in 12 innings. Quinn Renner hit what turned out to be the game-winning double in the 12th and had four hits on the day, while Chris Hueth had three hits, including a home run, and three RBI.

The game was suspended due to lightning after 10 innings on Friday afternoon with the scored tied, 6-6. It was completed on Saturday afternoon.

Saint Joseph's (18-18 overall, 6-4 Atlantic 10) posted a four-spot in the top of the first inning after Collin Forgey led off with a double and Stefan Kancylarz singled. Mike Muha followed with a two-run double before Hueth's two-run shot two batters later gave the Hawks a 4-0 lead.

Richmond (23-13 overall, 6-4 Atlantic 10) got two back right away on bases-loaded singles by Adam Forrer and Bret Williams, but the Hawks turned a 5-2-1 double play before Kyle Mullen fanned Nick Poulos to limit the damage.

The Hawks scored one in the third when O'Keefe led off with a walk and Hueth followed with a double to expand the lead to three. The Spiders closed to within one in the bottom half on a triple by Forrer and a sacrifice fly by Williams.

The Spiders threatened in the bottom of the fifth, putting runners on the corners with two outs, but Mullen struck out Jansen Fraser to get out of the inning unscathed.

Richmond moved in front, 6-5, in the bottom of the sixth after Mike Small doubled in JB Gadd and then came around to score on a pair of errors on a pickoff attempt.

Anthony Cirillo singled with two outs in the eighth and advanced to third on a single by Renner. With Kevin Kratochwill at the plate, a passed ball brought Cirillo home with the tying run to make it a 6-6 game.

After the resumption of play, both teams had opportunities in the 11th inning, but neither cashed in. The Hawks loaded the bases with one out in the top half, but a popout and a groundout ended the threat. In the bottom half of the inning, the Spiders put runners on first and second with one out, but Muha induced a fly ball and a groundout to end the frame.

In the 12th, SJU broke through for three runs to take a 9-6 lead. With one out, John Brue drew a walk and Cirillo was hit by a pitch to set up Renner, whose double to left scored both runners and gave the Hawks the lead. Kratochwill followed with a single to score Renner, extending the lead to three.

The Spiders scored on an error in the bottom half, but Muha caught Jacob Mayers looking with the bases loaded to end the ballgame.

Muha tossed two innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits, to improve to 2-0 on the year. Dan Martinson allowed three runs on three hits and four walks in two innings to take the loss; he fell to 0-1.

Mullen allowed six runs, five earned, on nine hits, striking out five and walking three in five and a third innings for his first no-decision of the season. Zak Sterling started the game for the Spiders and gave up five runs on six hits to go with three walks and two strikeouts in three innings.

Renner finished 4-for-5 with a run scored and two RBI in the game. Hueth added three hits and three runs batted in, while Forgey posted three hits and a run scored as well.

The second game of the series, originally scheduled for 2:30 p.m., is set to begin at approximately 3:25 p.m.