BRONX, N.Y. – No. 2 Davidson used a five-run seventh inning to get past No. 5 Richmond and advance to the consolation bracket final of the 2019 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship at Fordham’s Houlihan Park. The Wildcats (29-21) played again immediately against No. 3 Dayton in the consolation final. Richmond (28-25-1) was eliminated from the championship.
Davidson had back-to-back home runs in the sixth to turn a one-run deficit into a four-run lead. Ruben Fontes hit a three-run shot to right field, and Brett Centracchio followed with a solo shot that took almost the exact same path.
The Spiders tried to rally in the bottom of the ninth, scoring one on a bases-loaded groundout by Jordan Schulefand that scored Johnny Hipsman. But that was the only run Richmond could push across, leaving two runners stranded.
Centracchio and Eric Jones each had three hits for Davidson, and Fontes had three RBI. Hisman was 2-for-4 to pace the Spiders, and Justin Cook, whose RBI single in the fourth scored Richmond’s first two runs, had a pair of RBI.
Alex Fenton (1-3) got the win for Davidson for five innings of work where he gave up five hits and one run with six strikeouts. Gabe Levy picked up his 11th save of the season with one hitless inning of work with two strikeouts. Jacob Lamb (2-1) took the loss for Richmond, surrendering four runs on five hits.