Richardson Hits for the Cycle as Eagles Win 15-9

MT. PLEASANT, S.C. – David Richardson (Dahlonega/Lumpkin County) hit for the cycle leading Georgia Southern to a 15-9 win at the College of Charleston Friday night (March 28) in the series opener. The Eagles (15-8 overall, 4-0 Southern Conference) won their sixth straight overall.

Even more impressive than hitting for the cycle was how he did it. Richardson singled in the fourth, homered in the fifth, lined a double in the sixth then tripled in the seventh, reaching the milestone in four consecutive innings.

Ty Wright (Montrose/West Laurens) and Phillip Porter (Marietta/Sprayberry) drew a walk to start the game. Two batters later on a 3-2 pitch the runners were going. Griffin Benedict (Dunwoody/St. Pius) hit a grounder that first baseman Joash Brodin made a diving stop and flip to Danny Meszaros for the second out but Wright was able to score on the play for a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars used a hit, walk and error to load the bases with no one out in their half. Drew Murray (LaGrange/LaGrange) gave up a sacrifice fly but got a strikeout of Michael Kohn and groundout to end the threat.

A.J. Wirnsberger (Tuscaloosa, AL/Paul Bear Bryant) singled to start the second. He stole second and scored on Jeremy Beckham’s (Griffin/Griffin) two-out single.

Charleston loaded the bases again in the second on a similar situation with no one out. Joash Brodin hit a 2-run single for a 3-2 lead. Murray got two strikeouts and a comebacker to the mound, getting out of the jam.

Jeremiah Parker (Carrollton/Carrollton) hit a monster two-out solo home run in the third. His fifth home run of the year tied the score at 3-all.

GS loaded the bases in the fourth. With two outs, Chris Shehan (Strasburg, PA/Lampeter-Strasburg) worked the count full then drew a walk to bring home a run. During the fifth the Eagles sent 11 batters to the plate.

Richardson hit a 2-run homer, his sixth on the year. Porter and Shehan lined an opposite field RBI single with the bases loaded. Benedict drew a bases loaded walk to extend the lead to 9-4.

The Eagles loaded the bases again, this time with no one out. Richardson doubled then Brian Pierce (Roswell/Roswell) and Beckham walked. Porter hit a sacrifice fly to score one. Shehan walked to reload the bases then Benedict cleared the bases with a double down the right field line.

Charleston scored two in the sixth and seventh to close the gap but Wirnsberger hammered a 2-run shot for the final margin.

Needing a triple for the cycle, Richardson ripped a shot to centerfield and he was thinking three bases all the way.

“I definitely knew right out of the box (to go for three). I just got on my horse and wanted to make three out of it. There was no shot I was going to hold up,” laughed Richardson.

The Eagles out-hit Charleston 18-10 as the fourth-seventh hitters combined for 10 hits with 10 RBI and seven runs scored.

Richardson finished 4-for-6 with two runs scored and two RBI. Beckham tied his career-high of three hits and Benedict also matched a career-high with five RBI.

Murray (3-0) allowed four runs on seven hits in five innings. He struck out seven, matching a season-high total, while winning his third straight decision.  

Danny Meszaros (2-2) allowed eight runs on 10 hits in 4.1 innings. Joash Brodin went 5-for-6 with three runs scored.

Richardson made his fifth straight start and has been taking it one at a time.

“Tonight feels great, it’s all about confidence. One hit builds on another. I’ve been trying to take it one pitch and one at-bat at a time. For us we’re taking it one game at a time. We’ve come out and played some good baseball against two good caliber Southern Conference teams. This is certainly a morale booster for us; we’ll take it and try to keep on rolling.”

Category: Baseball

Published on Friday, 28 March 2008 00:29