Richmond falls to Seton Hall for season's first loss

The University of Richmond baseball team lost its first game of the season to Seton Hall University 14-12 on Saturday at Pitt Field, after a week of canceled games due to an early March snowstorm.

Richmond's pitchers began faltering in the second inning. Starting pitcher Brian Farrell led off the first inning by loading the bases, but got out of trouble with a double play and a strikeout. Farrell was nevertheless pulled after pitching five straight balls to begin the second inning.

"Our pitching struggled," Richmond coach Mike McQueen said. "I expected that after the long break. I didn't expect us to walk nine batters, but I did expect some struggles."

McQueen said his players were tired and had lost focus because they had to shovel snow and ice off of the infield tarp for three days last week. He said it could take a few more games to rebound to where they were before the weather.

The Pirates' 10 hits scored 14 runs, five of which came in the eighth inning, which was capped off with a homerun from designated hitter Chris Affinito.

The Spiders' offense was strong throughout the game, scoring in five separate innings, including homeruns from Billy Barber and Cameron Brown.

"I was proud of our offense," McQueen said. "If you had told me before the game that we would put 12 runs on the board, I wouldn't have believed you. We played better than I thought we would."

Seton Hall (3-4) sent one of the Big East Conference's best pitchers, Sean Black, to the mound, who entered the game with a 1.69 ERA with 10 innings pitched.

"We did a good job getting him out early," McQueen said. "That was our game plan."

Black pitched 2 1-3 innings and left with his ERA ruined after allowing six earned runs.

Richmond (7-1) plays Seton Hall at 2 p.m. tomorrow at Pitt Field.

Contact staff writer David Larter at david.larter@richmond.edu