Richmond Downs George Washington 10-3

May 26, 2005

DAYTON, OH - Freshman Joe Mahoney drove in three runs and rightfielder Andrew Justice slugged a two-run homer as Richmond upended second-seeded George Washington on Thursday afternoon, 10-3, at the 2005 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship.

In search of its second-ever A-10 crown, Richmond (22-33) will meet top-seeded Rhode Island on Friday at 12:00p.m.

"We came out and swung the bats, we executed the bunts, and did the little things today that it took to win," said Richmond head coach Ron Atkins.

"I couldn't have scripted it much better."

Mahoney's RBI double in the top of the first inning off GW starter Derrik Lutz scored junior centerfielder Ben Zeskind from second, giving the Spiders an early 1-0 lead. Richmond then struck for three runs in the fifth on an RBI hit by Mahoney and Justice's round-tripper over the 381-ft. sign in left-center.

After Geoff Milsom got the Colonials on the board in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single, the Spiders added three more runs in the top half of the sixth to stretch their lead to 7-1. Zeskind drew a bases loaded walk and second baseman Anthony Sandstrom reached on an error, scoring catcher Alex Hale, one of three GW miscues on the afternoon. Mahoney then added his 41st RBI of the year on an infield groundout, scoring Austin Reilly.

"We've won two games in a row against two good teams that people didn't think we would beat so we are looking forward to keeping it going tomorrow as the underdog," said Mahoney.

GW climbed to within 7-3 on a two-run homer by centerfielder Matt Owens off starter Stephen Owens, his sixth of the season. Owens then retired senior Joe Michalski on a fly ball to right to complete his six-inning stint. UR tacked on one in the seventh and two more in the ninth on an RBI double by Joe White and a run-scoring single by Hale.

A first-team All-Conference selection, Lutz (8-1) suffered his first loss in 11 starts this season after allowing seven runs (six earned) on six hits and added five walks in 5 2/3 innings. Owens allowed seven hits and struck out one to improve to 5-2 on the season.

"I can't say enough about Steve [Owens]," said Atkins. "He had his off speed pitches, he spotted his balls, and with a big ballpark, we had a chance to catch it.".....