March 14, 2007
RICHMOND, VA -- The Old Dominion Monarchs (14-9) baseball team traveled to face the Spiders of Richmond (7-9) and fell 8-5 because of one big blast. Dexter Carter pitched the first six frames for the Monarchs and, other than what would prove to be the game-winning grand slam in the bottom of the sixth, pitched effectively. The slam put Richmond up 8-3 as the Monarchs would pick up two more runs for the final tally of 8-5 on a Mike Zahm RBI double and a Tyler Belcher solo home run.
Carter allowed just four hits in the first five innings, but the Spiders came to life in the sixth. The six-run, four-hit sixth powered mainly by the pinch-hit grand slam by Vince Riggi was the downfall for Carter as his season record falls to 0-2. He had six strikeouts in the loss.
Coming on in relief, Matt Walls only allowed two hits as he shutout the team in the final 2.1 innings. Four of the seven batters he retired went down on strikes.
At the plate, Tyler Belcher knocked home his second dinger of the year with a solo shot to lead off the eighth inning. He added a single and another run scored earlier in the game. Also with two hits and two runs scored was Chris Keenan. Mike Zahm had two hits and an RBI while Cameron Scott had a two-RBI single.
Matt Trent earned his first win of the year for Richmond as he scattered eight of the Monarchs 11 hits in 6.2 innings. Riggi's pinch hit slam was the bulk of the offense for Richmond as four different players had the other four RBI's.
The Monarchs return home to host Hofstra in a conference series this weekend with the first pitch of the series set for 7:00 pm Friday night.