Spiders knock out Deacons

Posted 10:05PM on Sunday 2nd June 2002 ( 23 years ago )

WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. - Vito Chiaravalloti had a three-run double and a solo homer, and Matt McLoughlin worked 4 2-3 innings of one-run relief as Richmond won its first NCAA baseball regional, beating Wake Forest 7-5 Sunday night. The Spiders, with a school-record 52 wins, advanced to the super regionals to play at Nebraska. Richmond (52-11) was in its first NCAA tournament since losing to the Demon Deacons at Ernie Shore Field in 1999, but turned the tables on Wake Forest, the No. 7 overall seed in the 64-team double-elimination tourney. ``I lost about five years of my life in these games,'' said Chiaravalloti, who had 12 RBI in four games. ``It was intense. These were two great teams going at it. Our team knew how tough it was in a double-header to beat a team two straight games. We knew we were in the driver's seat.'' McLoughlin struck out Jeff Ruziecki for the final out, throwing his glove 20 feet in the air as he was mobbed by his teammates. It was arguably the best moment in the 87-year history of Richmond baseball. ``That's the best feeling I've ever had,'' McLoughlin said. ``It was like a dream being out there. I didn't feel anything or hear anything.'' ``I believed in our team from the very beginning,'' added Chiaravalloti. ``I thought we had the makings of a special team. This is the greatest team I've played on - 1 thru 25. Hopefully, we're not done yet. We're going to take this as far as we can and leave it all on the field.'' Wake Forest forced an elimination game by beating Richmond 5-4 in 10 innings earlier in the day. ``I'm kind of speechless right now,'' Wake Forest's Ryan Johnson said. ``Even this morning I woke up and really didn't think that our season would be over. I was trying to think positive. But Richmond is a great ball club and I told you guys earlier in the week you don't want to be stuck Sunday having to beat a team twice.'' Chiaravalloti's bases-clearing double keyed Richmond's four-run first inning in the title game, and his 22nd homer of the year in the seventh - a long shot off the scoreboard gave the Spiders a three-run lead after the Demon Deacons had closed to 6-4. McLoughlin did the rest, improving to 5-1 while allowing just two harmless singles and a solo homer to Jamie D'Antona in the ninth, fooling Wake Forest's hitters with an off-speed pitch while spotting his fastball. ``He's a guy that if you're a free-swinger and you are going after a lot of pitches he's going to give you trouble,'' Richmond coach Ron Atkins said. ``For two or three innings I felt like they didn't know what was coming. When you've got hitters like Wake Forest does, you've got to have somebody to come in that can keep them off-balanced and that's exactly what he did.'' McLoughlin, a junior college transfer, came into the tournament with a 5.06 earned run average, but saved one of his best outings for the most important game of the season. ``He had a real, real good change-up. It just kept us off balanced,'' Johnson said. ``We knew it was coming and we still couldn't hit it. That's the sign of a really good pitcher. He shut us down and took the wind out of our sail.'' D'Antona's homer was his third of the tournament and eighth in 10 career games in the NCAAs. Wake Forest, ranked in the top 10 since April 1, closed its season at 47-13-1, trying a school record for wins. Brian Bach started on the mound for Wake Forest, but the freshman didn't have it from the start, allowing four runs in the first and two in the second as the Demon Deacons fell into an early 6-0 hole. The Demon Deacons got three in the fifth to close to 6-4 and chase Richmond starter Tim Rice, who had five strikeouts and four walks. Johnson had a two-run single to give him three RBI for the game and six for the day. In Sunday's first game, the Demon Deacons fell behind by a run in the top of the 10th when D'Antona let a routine grounder through his legs for his team-leading 19th error. But Adam Bourassa led off the bottom of the inning with a single to start a rally that was capped by RBI singles by Ryan Johnson and Jeff Ruziecki off loser Andy Givens (3-2). A throwing error by Givens, who was trying to cut down the lead runner at second base on a bunt play, helped keep the Demon Deacons alive in the double-elimination tourney. Dave Bush, the Atlantic Coast Conference's top reliever, picked up his eighth win in nine decisions with five solid innings of relief, allowing one earned run while striking out five. Richmond beat Wake Forest 3-2 Saturday to remain in the winner's bracket.

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