Baseball Blanks Richmond on Opening Night

Friday, February 18

Charleston, SC

4 PM

Army West Point

1-0

Richmond

0-1

Army

Richmond

Baseball Blanks Richmond on Opening Night

February 18, 2022 | Baseball

Box Score Photo Gallery

CHARLESTON, S.C. – The Army West Point baseball team kicked off the 2022 season in thrilling fashion, earning an 8-0 victory over Richmond on Friday night at Shipyard Park.

The opening game of the Swig & Swine Classic was highlighted by the pitching staff, which posted its first shutout win since the 2019 season. Southpaw Connelly Early led the charge, tossing five scoreless frames while scattering four hits and matching his career-high of six strikeouts. The quartet of Robbie Buecker, Tyler Prichard, Teddy Lepcio and Tanner Gresham covered the backend of the game, fanning a combined four batters while allowing just two knocks.

Offensively, both Cam Cerruto and Sam Ruta were tied for the team lead with a pair of hits to go along with three RBI. Cerruto reached base in each of his at-bats, while Ruta cranked out the team's first home run of the year when he launched a three-run bomb in the top of the ninth.

Army (1-0) got to work building its lead quickly, attacking as early as the second inning. After Nick Manesis' full-count walk allowed him to become the Cadets' first baserunner of the year, Cerruto plated him with an RBI double that put the team up 1-0.

Richmond (0-1) attempted to respond to the early push with back-to-back singles in the bottom of the second and was able to advance a runner as far as third, but Early got out of the inning. He stifled the Spiders' offense over his next three frames, facing just one batter over the minimum.

On the other side of the ball, the Black Knights used an RBI single off the bat of Cerruto to extend their lead to 2-0 through the middle stretch.

Though the Spiders were forced to make two early calls to the bullpen, Army's first pitching change did not come until the bottom of the sixth when Buecker climbed up the bump in place of Early. In two innings of work, he faced six batters while collecting a pair of punchouts to extend the shutout.

Army's offense, which was held scoreless for three innings, made its final push in the last two frames of the night and put up six combined runs. Ross Friedrick got the spree started with an RBI single that plated Kevin Dubrule in the top of the eighth. He was one of three Black Knights that drove in runners during the frame, joined by Cam Cerruto, who drew a bases-loaded walk, and Andre Walden, who recorded a sac fly. Ruta later capped off the Black Knights' scoring kick with his three-run homer in the top of the ninth that brought in both Dubrule and Hunter Meade while pushing the team to its final 8-0 margin of victory.

Cadets' Corner
"It was a great opening day. It was so nice to be with all the guys again, outside and in warm weather. The pitching staff threw [the ball] really, really well today. They filled the zone up and competed very well. The hitters battled and got it done in late innings. We did some damage. I'm excited for the rest of the way." – Cam Cerruto

Coach's Corner
"I thought the guys played a really clean game … They did a little bit of everything today. They checked all the boxes. They did a great job on the mound any only had two walks today, which is always a big thing. I thought we made all of our hits count today. We had some big two-out hits and later in the game, we closed with that three-run homer and got to [Richmond] a little bit. For day one and first day being outside, this was an A+. It started on the mound and I was most encouraged by the way we threw the ball. The seniors on the team had some really good, mature at-bats."

What's Next
Army will return to action for its second game of the Swig & Swine Classic on Saturday evening at 5 p.m., opposite the Air Force Falcons. The teams will compete for a silver star at Shipyard Park.

Follow Along
For complete coverage of Army West Point Baseball, follow the Black Knights on Twitter and Instagram at @ArmyWP_Baseball and online at www.goarmywestpoint.com.