George Washington University
22-28, 11-9
RICHMOND
26-23, 11-12
GW Baseball Rallies Past Richmond for 7-5 Win
5/14/2016 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
WASHINGTON - The George Washington baseball team erased an early deficit for the second day in a row, rallying from a 4-1 hole, to down Richmond, 7-5, for a series-clinching victory on Saturday at Tucker Field at Barcroft Park.
GW (22-28, 11-9 A-10) trailed 4-1 entering the seventh inning but scored six runs in the final two frames to give head coach Gregg Ritchie his 100th career victory.
Senior Jacob Williams, making the final home start of his career, left the bases loaded in the top of the second before yielding one run on three hits in the top of the third as Richmond (28-23, 11-12 A-10) took a 1-0 lead.
The Colonials answered in the bottom half of the inning when sophomore Brandon Chapman doubled with one out, moved to third on a base hit by junior Eli Kashi and scored on a sacrifice fly by junior Joey Bartosic to knot the score at 1-1.
After a scoreless fourth, the Spiders plated three runs on one hit in the fifth, using a two-run single and scoring another run on a balk, to build a 4-1 lead.
Richmond threatened again in the top of the sixth after Williams yielded a one-out double and hit a batter, but sophomore Tyler Swiggart entered in relief and retired the side on a fielder's choice and strikeout.
GW battled back to take the lead in the seventh inning after scoring four runs on four hits and an error. Junior Cody Bryant singled with one out to start the comeback and then moved to second on an infield pinch-hit by junior Colin Gibbons-Fly. Chapman then came to the plate and roped a two-run double to the gap in left center field to pull the Colonials within one at 4-3.
After a pitching change, Kashi drew a four-pitch walk to put runners on first and second. Richmond got a fly out for the second out of the inning, but junior Robbie Metz reached on an error to load the bases and extend the inning. Junior Mark Osis then came to the plate and blooped a 1-2 pitch to shallow right field to drive in two runs and put the Colonials on top, 5-4.
Richmond responded to tie the score in the top of the eighth, but junior Eddie Muhl retired the side to maintain the deadlock.
Junior Kevin Mahala led off the bottom of the eighth by roping a 3-2 pitch into the right field corner for a leadoff triple. Pinch hitter Eric Ramsey then drew a walk and stole second to set the stage for junior Matt Cosentino, who lifted a sacrifice fly to right field to score Mahala and put the Colonials back on top, 6-5. Later in the inning, junior Eli Kashi provided a key insurance run with another sac fly to extend the lead to 7-5.
Muhl worked around a one-out walk in the top of the ninth to retire the side and earn the victory for the second straight day.
GW's pitchers combined to strand 13 Richmond runners on base to run the two-day total to 28.
Chapman finished 2-for-5 at the plate with two doubles, two RBIs and one run scored to lead the offense.
GW will look for the sweep in Sunday's series finale. GW will celebrate Senior Day in a pregame ceremony ahead of first pitch at 3:00 p.m.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Muhl, Eddie (3-1)
L: MOORE, Zach (1-1)
Batting:
2B: MORMAN, Michael 1 ; BECKWITH, Tyler 1 ; KURTZ, Zach 1
RBI: MORMAN, Michael 1 ; BRUMBAUGH, Daniel 2
Base Running:
RUNS: ADAMS, Kyle 1 ; MORMAN, Michael 1 ; KRAEGER, Doug 1 ; BECKWITH, Tyler 1 ; BARTLETT, Keenan 1
SB: BECKWITH, Tyler 1
HBP: ADAMS, Kyle 1 ; FRASER, Jansen 1 ; DE MARTE, Jonathan 1 ; KURTZ, Zach 1
Batting:
2B: Chapman, Brandon 2
3B: Mahala, Kevin 1
RBI: Bartosic, Joey 1 ; Osis, Mark 2 ; Cosentino, Matt 1 ; Chapman, Brandon 2 ; Kashi, Eli 1
SH: Metz, Robbie 1
SF: Bartosic, Joey 1 ; Cosentino, Matt 1 ; Kashi, Eli 1
Base Running:
RUNS: Mahala, Kevin 1 ; McCabe, Larry 1 ; Ramsey, Eric 1 ; Gibbons-Fly, Colin 1 ; Chapman, Brandon 1 ; Scott, Gabe 1 ; Kashi, Eli 1
SB: Ramsey, Eric 1
HBP: Osis, Mark 1 ; Robért, Matthieu 1
