Spiders give up 7 in the 9th inning, fall to Colonials

The University of Richmond baseball team dropped its first of three games Friday against Atlantic-10 opponent, George Washington, 9-4.

After holding the lead during the first eight innings, the Spiders gave up seven runs in the ninth.

Starting pitcher Jacob Mayers threw for eight innings, striking out a career-high 12 batters, and allowed just two runs.

"[Mayers] was outstanding," Richmond coach Mark McQueen said. "We let it get away in the end, but he was fantastic."

Senior Alex Maffett stepped in for Mayers on the mound in the ninth. With one out and three runners on base, Maffett threw a pitch at the batter's head, sending a man home and cutting Richmond's lead to 4-3.

The next batter for the Colonials hit a double, and brought in two more runs, and George Washington took the lead for the first time during the game.

The Spiders changed pitchers again, and junior Jolmi Minaya allowed two more runs, before finishing it off with two strikeouts.

McQueen said that Maffett had been great for the Spiders all season, but had an off day.

Mayers said Maffett was one of the team's top pitchers.

"That's the game of baseball," he said of the Colonials' late-game comeback.

Richmond has been strong offensively all season, but had no major hits during the game. Senior Chris Cowell, who leads the A-10 in home runs with 12, was held hitless.

Mike Small and Bryan Conway each had two hits for the Spiders. Senior Phil Ruzbarsky had an RBI in the seventh, increasing Richmond's lead to 4-2.

McQueen said offensively, the team had some missed opportunities.

"We left 15 runners on base, which is good and bad," he said. "It's good because we got them out there, but it's bad because we left them out there.

"We just couldn't get a big hit."

Mayers was optimistic for the Spiders' next two games against the Colonials.

"Hitting will come around," he said.

McQueen said, "Our goal is to do better at situational hitting, put the ball in play, and play better offensively."

With the loss, the Spiders' record drops 16-15 and 3-4 in the conference. The second game in the series is 2 p.m. Saturday at Pitt Field.

Contact staff writer Avery Shackelford at avery.shackelford@richmond.edu