RICHMOND, Va. – Early offense paired with late defense and pitching helped lead the Saint Joseph's baseball team to an 11-9 win over Richmond in the conference opener for both teams at Pitt Field on Friday.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Quickly, for one.  A walk and two singles loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first for Richard Beggy, who singled through the right side to score Alex Kelsey for a 1-0 SJU lead.  Jason Janesko was then hit by a pitch to force home Blake Primrose before Alex Venezia walked to bring in Joey Pagano to bring the score to 3-0.
 
• Tim Dickinson appeared to hit a grand slam out to left, but as the ball was hanging in the air due to high winds heading out to right, Dickinson passed Venezia on the bases and was called out; in the end, it was a three-run single that doubled the lead to 6-0 after a half-inning.
 
• Saint Joseph's (6-9 overall, 1-0 Atlantic 10) extended the lead in the second.  A pair of walks brought Pagano to the plate, who ripped a nearly-400-foot three-run shot to right for a 9-0 Hawk advantage.
 
• Richmond (10-8 overall, 0-1 Atlantic 10) began to get back into the game in the second on a leadoff home run by Sean Scanlon, but it was an eight-run third that brought the hosts back level.  Dylan Winebrenner started the inning with a home run and then closed out the scoring in the frame with a grand slam.
 
• The deadlock was short-lived, and it was Beggy again who put the Hawks in front.  Ben Peterson led off the fourth with a walk before Alex Kelsey was hit by a pitch; after a groundout moved the runners up a base, Beggy dropped a single into left center to score both and give the Hawks an 11-9 lead.
 
• Matt Speicher came in from the bullpen and shut down the Spiders for the next three innings, working around a leadoff double in the fifth to keep the Hawks on top.
 
• The Spiders would put runners on second and third with one out in the seventh for Winebrenner, who lined a shot over Beggy's head that looked sure to tie the game; instead, Beggy leapt and snared the ball before beating Chris Schaller back to the bag at third for a game-changing double play.
 
• Richmond would put two on in the eighth as well without scoring, and Andrew Gaines would work around a one-out walk in the ninth to seal the win.  Fittingly, it was Beggy who gloved a pop-up in foul territory to end the game.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Speicher earned the win after allowing one hit and striking out four in three shutout innings.  Gaines collected his second save with a shutout ninth.  Chase Topolski took the loss for Richmond after he allowed two runs on two hits and a walk in six innings of relief.
 
• Beggy was 4-for-4 with three runs batted in, while Pagano and Dickinson added three RBI of their own.  Kelsey scored a game-high three runs as well.
 
• Peterson walked three times at the top of the Hawk lineup.
 
• This is the fifth consecutive season that the Hawks have opened conference play on the road; SJU has won three of its last four conference openers.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks and Spiders will continue the series on Saturday at 1:00 p.m.