ROCKINGHAM — A strong pitching performance Friday was undone by the Richmond Raider baseball team’s inability to bring runners home.
At home to close out their first Sandhills Athletic Conference series of the season against Southern Lee High School, the Raiders weren’t able to complete the series sweep.
Following Tuesday’s five-run victory, Friday’s low-scoring affair ended in a 1-0 loss for the Raiders.
Junior pitcher Caden Nolan made his first start on the mound this season and followed up his spectacular relief appearance last Friday with another strong outing.
Nolan threw 5.2 innings of work and limited the Cavaliers to just one earned run on six hits. He walked just one batter and recorded 10 strikeouts, his second 10-strikeout performance in as many appearances this spring.
Through the first two frames, Nolan stranded two runners in scoring position and retired Southern Lee in order in the second. Again in the third, he left two runners on base and recorded a 1-2-3 top of the fourth thanks to a double play.
Nolan’s longest inning was a five-batter top of the fifth, which resulted in a one-out RBI single for the game’s only run.
In relief, senior Jeremiah Ritter was all zeroes in his 1.1 innings on the mound. After inheriting two runners on base with two outs in the top of the sixth, Ritter retired all four batters he faced in the game in order on three groundouts and a strikeout.
Head coach Eric Brown praised the pitching efforts from Nolan and Ritter, adding that Richmond’s “bats were not working” and Southern Lee “made every play” in the field.
Collecting half of the team’s four hits was freshman Devin Haynes, who had a pair of base hits. Junior Evan Hodges roped a double, Richmond’s lone extra-base hit, and senior Riley Brown had a single.
The Raiders were retired in order the first time through the lineup and didn’t record a base runner until Hodges’ two-bagger with one out in the bottom of the fourth. A strikeout and a lineout left Hodges on base.
Haynes (single) and senior Jabari Douglas (hit-by-pitch) reached safely in the fifth with Richmond down a run. But again, the next two batters went down in order on a pop out and a strikeout.
After going down in order in the sixth inning, Richmond used back-to-back singles from Brown and Haynes to put runners on with one out. Southern Lee (3-1, 1-1 SAC) escaped with the win with a pop out and a fielder’s choice.
Richmond (2-3, 1-1 SAC) has a non-conference home game Saturday against Myers Park High School. First pitch from Raider Field is set for 3 p.m.
Sports editor's note: Statistics and game information provided by Richmond's Game Changer.
