RICHMOND, Va. – Deon Stafford, Jr., turned in the first three-home run game in the history of Saint Joseph's baseball on Saturday afternoon as the Hawks topped Richmond, 6-5, in the rubber game of a three-game set at Smithson Field.
Stafford's third longball of the day gave Saint Joseph's (9-10 overall, 2-1 Atlantic 10) the lead in the top of the ninth. With one out and the game tied, Stafford hit Caleb Ward's 0-1 offering over the fence in left field to give the Hawks a 6-5 lead. Ryan Kelly then sent the Spiders down in order in the bottom of the ninth to lock up the win.
Stafford eclipsed a mark reached many times in SJU history; the most recent Hawk to have a two home-run game was Brian O'Keefe in 2014.
Richmond (13-11 overall, 1-2 Atlantic 10) batted around in the bottom of the first, sending 10 hitters to the plate and taking a 4-0 lead. The Hawks answered in the top of the second, as singles from Matt Maul and Charlie Concannon and an infield error allowed the Hawks to load the bases with nobody out. Cal Jadacki then hit into a fielder's choice to score Maul and make it a 4-1 game.
After Marc Giacalone led off the third with a walk, Stafford's sixth home run of the season brought SJU back within a run at 4-3.
The pair struck again two innings later as Giacalone singled and Stafford homered again to put the Hawks on top, 5-4, in the top of the fifth. The Spiders threatened in the bottom half, putting the first two runners aboard, but reliever Jack Stover induced a fly ball and a double play to end the inning.
The Spiders equalized in the seventh as Michael Morman doubled, went to third on a groundout, and scored on a balk. That set up Stafford for his record-breaking at bat in the ninth.
Kelly earned the win, allowing just one hit and striking out two in two and a third innings. Ward was tagged with the loss, allowing a run on one hit and three walks in an inning and a third.
Saint Joseph's returns to action on Tuesday in the quarterfinals of the Liberty Bell Classic. First pitch at Lafayette is set for 3:35 p.m.
