April 28, 2013

click here for complete list of scores

Around the Bases

CBI Live
SLU's Smith Shuts Out Richmond to Avoid Sweep

By Zachary Kerr, CBI Staff

RICHMOND, Va. – Right-hander Clay Smith threw a shutout on a rainy Sunday afternoon, leading Saint Louis to a 2-0 win over Richmond to avoid the sweep in a crucial Atlantic 10 series. Smith allowed just two singles, the first coming with one away in the eighth. He walked one and struck out eight, improving his record to 6-2.

“This is definitely the best I've pitched all year,” Smith said, “and against a top conference team, when it matters most. I had a one-run complete game against Xavier, but this takes the cake. I knew in the sixth that I'd be able to go the distance as long as I could continue to keep guys off balance, and I had to keep nibbling the corners, because we were only up two.”

Billikens’ head coach Darin Hendrickson agreed that Smith did a good job of keeping Richmond off balance.

“He mixed three pitches all game and had an easy time of it against a good offense,” Hendrickson said. “He had a bad outing or two that really inflated his numbers, but he's been a key to our staff all season.”

First baseman Mike Vigliarolo once again provided the offense for Saint Louis, going 3 for 4 with a solo homer to lead off the second, which held up as the winning run, and a double. Vigliarolo went 8 for 12 with three solo homers, four RBI, four runs, and three doubles in the series.

“Vigliarolo deserves Player of the Week consideration for his performance in this series,” Hendrickson said. “He pounded some good pitchers, including (Jacob) Mayers, who I think is their best arm.”

Mayers, the Richmond starter, allowed two earned runs in eight innings for the loss, giving him a 2-1 record. He scattered seven hits, hit a batter and struck out seven.

“Jacob pitched well for us today, holding a good offense on the best team in the conference to two runs,” UR head coach Mark McQueen said. “Nine times out of 10, if he gives us that, we'll win the game.”

The Billikens retained first in the A-10 with the win, giving them a 12-3 conference record and 30-13 overall record. The Spiders slid to seventh in the A-10 at 9-6 and 26-15 overall, but became the only team to take A-10 series from St. Louis or second-place La Salle this season, beating both teams in two of three games.

“I think this series provides a lot of confidence for our guys, even though we didn't necessarily play our best baseball,” McQueen said. “But we pitched and fielded well and hit when we needed to, except today. If you would've told me before this weekend that we'd take two out of three, I'd have gladly taken it.”

St. Louis will face Ole Miss Wednesday in Mississippi before returning to Richmond for three games against Virginia Commonwealth University to end its last road trip of the season.

The Spiders will finish their homestand next weekend against Temple before traveling to Longwood for one game on May 7.