March 13, 2007
RICHMOND, Va.--Behind four hits from Stephen Miehls and three Ryan Lavarnway RBIs, the Yale baseball team (3-3) claimed a 13-6 victory over Richmond (6-9) Monday afternoon at Pitt Field. Yale trailed 5-3 after five innings, but rallied for eight in the top of the sixth to take the final game of a three-game series.
The Bulldogs sent 13 batters to the plate in the sixth, and Richmond needed four pitchers to get through the inning. The first 11 Yale batters reached base, and eight consecutive runners crossed the plate. After Miehls scored on a wild pitch, Justin Ankney belted a two-run double. Marc Sawyer was intentionally walked to load the bases, then Lavarnway smacked a two-run single. Sawyer and Lavarnway came across on Charles Bush's double, and Bush scored on a single by Pedro Obregon.
The rally came after Richmond had taken a 5-3 lead with three runs in the bottom of the fifth. Stefan Schropp relieved starter Steve Gilman with the bases loaded and no one out midway through the inning. Schropp struck out two of the first three batters he faced, and apparently got out of the frame when Joe White flied to right. However, Schropp was called for a balk that brought home a run. He struck out the next batter to end the inning.
The Bulldogs loaded the bases with one out in the top of the first, but Richmond starter Alex Hale struck out Lavarnway and got Bush to ground out to end the inning. Yale plated two in the second to take the lead, but Richmond immediately responded and tied the game in the bottom half of the inning. The Bulldogs went back in front, 3-2, in the top of the third when Ankney scored after a leadoff single.
Yale added two insurance runs on a pair of solo homers in the eighth. Lavarnway went deep to lead off the inning, and Miehls connected for his first career long ball. Richmond tallied a final run in the bottom of the ninth.
Schropp (1-0) went three innings of one-hit, scoreless relief to pick up the victory. Josh Cox was 3-for-6 with an RBI and a run scored, while Ankney scored twice and had two RBIs. As a team, the Bulldogs whacked a season-high 16 hits.
After belting out 41 hits in the first two games of the series, Richmond was held to just nine base knocks. Hank Coogan was the only Spider to have a multi-hit game, going 2-for-4.
Yale returns to action Tuesday at 4 p.m. when the Bulldogs open a two-game set at Davidson.
Report filed by Joe Clifford, Yale Sports Publicity