Richmond, Va.—The Niagara baseball team opened the 2024 season in shutout fashion as they downed the Richmond Spiders 6-0 on the road.
How it Happened
The Purple Eagles wasted no time in the top of the first to get the first hit of the season out of the way. Nick Groves notched his first hit of the season on the very first pitch of the game as he singled up the middle. Groves proceeded to steal second however he was stranded at second.
Maximilian Ramirez IV made is first start as a Purple Eagle and was faced with danger in his first inning. After allowing a leadoff double and he got back to back-to-back strikeouts before walking a pair to load the bases. On a 2-1 pitch he got out of the jam with a flyout to centerfield.
Niagara got on the board in the top of the second as Gavin Schrader singled to left field. Matt Ward then laid down a sacrifice bunt to advance Schrader to second. After a strikeout, Brady Desjardins hammered a ball to second base that was misplayed by the second baseman which allowed Schrader to score the first run of the season.
Richmond had the bases loaded with one out in the bottom of the fourth inning when they hit a hard groundball to third base. Vincent Mauro fielded the groundball, touched the third base bag, and rifled the ball to Ward at the plate who applied the tag for the inning ending double play.
Both teams were held scoreless by each teams' starters until the start of the sixth inning. Kelly Corl was leading off the inning for the Purple Eagles. After falling into an 0-2 hole, the senior blasted his first homer of the season over the left field wall to give Niagara a 2-0 lead.
Ramirez came out for the start of the sixth inning and got a popout, a groundout, and a strikeout to close his day.
Zac Laird was the first Purple Eagle out of the bullpen, he struck out the first batter he faced. Richmond responded by getting runners on first and second. With runners on first and second he notched back to back strikeouts to work out of the jam and keep it a 2-0 game.
Niagara called on Zach Cameron to go for a six out save in the bottom of the eighth. Cameron gave up a leadoff double but worked out of the jam by getting a 6-4 double play. He closed the inning by inducing a weak flyout to Brady Desjardins at short.
The Purple Eagles looked for some insurance runs in the top of the ninth. Mauro started the inning with a single which was followed by a Schrader single to put runners on the corners. Ward then drew a four pitch walk to load the bases with freshman Nick Monile coming to the plate. Monile who was looking for his first career hit lifted a flyball to right field that kept carrying over the fence for a grand slam.
Cameron came out for the ninth with a six-run lead and struck out a pair of batters to secure the win for the Purple Eagles.
Niagara Notes
· It is the first time Niagara has played Richmond since 2012. Niagara is now 2-5 against Richmond under Head Coach Rob McCoy following the win on Friday.
· Niagara earned a shutout win in their first game of the season for the first time since Feb. 23, 2001. Niagara defeated Charleston on the road, 6-0. Niagara's head coach at the time was Jim Mauro the father of current Purple Eagle Vincent Mauro who went 2-4 in the game against Richmond.
· Groves, Maruo, and Schrader all had two hits while eight different Purple Eagles had hits.
· Ramirez notched his first career win as he went six innings while allowing no runs on two hits. He struck out four batters while opposing hitters hit just .105 against him.
· Cameron picked up his 16th career save in the win, which is still the Niagara program record.
· Niagara left just four runners on base while they stranded nine Richmond runners.
· Desjardins and Groves both picked up stolen bases in the win.
Up Next
Niagara and Richmond continue their four game series to open the season as the two teams play a doubleheader on Saturday. Game one will start at 11:30 am and will be seven innings while game two is scheduled for nine innings.
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