Buccaneers Fall to Richmond 19-9 in Series Finale

CHARLESTON, S.C. – Trailing Richmond by eight runs going into the bottom of the fifth inning, the CSU baseball team cut the deficit to four after seven innings of action. But the visiting Spiders scored six runs in the final two stanzas and quenched the Buccaneer rally en route to a 19-9 victory at Collins Park on Sunday. Freshman Steve Antolik hit his fifth home run of the season and tied for the team lead with two runs batted in on the day.

Antolik and freshman Taylor Black each had two RBI for CSU (6-11), giving Antolik the team lead with 16 RBI on the season. Junior Mark Perry matched Antolik’s three hits against Richmond (7-11-1), giving each batting averages over .400 this season. Going 1-for-4 Sunday afternoon, junior Kory Morian maintained his team-leading batting average, now hitting .429 in his first year with the Bucs.

The Spiders opened the scoring quickly, getting a leadoff home run from Andrew Lowry. Richmond added two more runs in the first inning, building a 3-0 advantage before CSU had its first at-bats. The home team got one back in the bottom half of the inning after a hit batter and three straight walks forced a run home to make it 3-1.

In the next inning, the Spiders got the run back and added another to its lead with three hits in the top half of the second. Austin Reilly got a one-out single and then stole second to put himself in scoring position, where Joe White drove him home with a double to right center. White didn’t spend much time on second base, however, as a single by Ryan Metzroth allowed him to score. The Bucs got two runs back in the bottom half of the inning, getting an RBI single from Morian that scored Jake Cox before Perry capitalized on a Richmond throwing error to cross home plate.

A wild pitch allowed Richmond’s Mike Mergenthaler to score in the top of the third, putting the Spiders in front 6-3. They more than doubled that margin in the fourth inning, scoring four runs with two outs to crack double digits. All four runs where driven in by singles as all nine hitters came to the plate in the inning for Richmond. Antolik picked up the first of his two RBI in the bottom of the fourth, driving a single to right field that brought junior Keith Hustedt home. Redshirt-freshman Nick Chinners drove a single up the middle later in the inning to score Perry and pull the Bucs within five, 10-5.

Once again striking quickly, Billy Falasco and Metzroth reached base to begin the fifth inning, making Barber’s home run a three-run shot to put the Spiders in front 13-5. CSU then slowly began chipping away at the eight-run deficit over the next three innings. Black led off the bottom of the fifth inning with a double and scored on a single by Hustead to begin the charge.

The Bucs added two more in the bottom of the sixth when Black struck again with his second straight double to score freshman Derek Smith and Chinners. CSU pulled within four, 13-9, in the seventh inning on Antolik’s fifth home run of the season, this one a solo shot to left center.

But that was as close as the Bucs could get as the visiting Spiders added six runs on seven hits in the game’s final two innings while shutting down CSU to claim the victory.

CSU plays The Citadel at Riley Park on Wednesday at 6 p.m. and started a three-game series with Presbyterian on Friday at 2 p.m.