RICHMOND, Va. (Interstat) — In a wild Atlantic 10 Conference opener defined by a staggering early outburst and a monumental comeback that fell just short, the Saint Joseph’s Hawks outlasted the Richmond Spiders 11-9 on Friday at Malcolm U. Pitt Field.

The game, which began in the afternoon and concluded under evening lights, saw the Hawks (6-8, 1-0 A-10) send 13 men to the plate in a nightmarish first inning for Richmond, scoring eight runs on just three hits while capitalizing on three walks and a hit batter. The Spiders (10-8, 0-1) answered with a historic inning of their own, but stellar relief pitching from Saint Joseph’s preserved a victory that defied pregame projections.

Saint Joseph’s ambushed Richmond starter Smith immediately. After a walk and a single, Joey Pagano and Richard Beggy delivered run-scoring hits. With the bases loaded, Tim Dickinson cleared them with a three-run double to deep left field, capping the eight-run frame that saw every Hawks batter reach base at least once.

The Hawks weren’t done, as Pagano launched a three-run homer to right field in the second inning, stretching the lead to 11-0 and seemingly putting the game out of reach.

Richmond began its methodical climb back in the bottom of the second on a solo home run by Sean Scanlon. The momentum truly shifted in a chaotic bottom of the third. Dylan Winebrenner led off with a solo shot, and an RBI double by Recio made it 11-3. The Spiders continued to load the bases, and a catcher’s interference call forced in another run.

With the bases still loaded and two outs, Winebrenner stepped in again and delivered the pivotal swing of the game, a grand slam to left-center field. The blast, his second homer of the inning, capped a nine-run Spider rally and stunningly tied the game at 11. The nine-run inning matched the eight-run top of the first for sheer shock value, completely resetting the contest.

The most important part of the game, however, was the immediate response from the Hawks’ bullpen to stop the bleeding and the subsequent shutdown effort that followed. After the grand slam, Saint Joseph’s turned to Matt Speicher, who had allowed four earned runs in just two-thirds of an inning in his last appearance on Feb. 28. Speicher delivered a masterful performance, throwing three perfect innings of relief with four strikeouts to stabilize the game.

His work allowed Saint Joseph’s to reclaim the lead in the top of the fourth. Against Richmond reliever Chase Topolski, who would go on to strike out 10 over six strong innings, the Hawks loaded the bases with no outs. Beggy came through again, lining a two-run single to left-center to plate what proved to be the decisive runs, making it 13-11.

From there, the Hawks’ bullpen was impenetrable. Jackson Campbell followed Speicher with two hitless innings, and Andrew Gaines pitched a scoreless ninth for the save. Over the final six innings, Saint Joseph’s relievers combined to allow no hits and just three walks while striking out seven.

Beggy led the Hawks’ eight-hit attack, going a perfect 4 for 4 with three RBIs. Pagano finished 2 for 5 with his three-run homer. Winebrenner’s two-homer, five-RBI day paced Richmond’s 11-hit offense in a losing effort.

The victory improved Saint Joseph’s to 6-8 overall, while Richmond fell to 10-8. The teams continue their three-game series on Saturday. The result contradicted the pregame analytics from Interstat, whose simulator had projected a 6-3 Richmond win and gave the Spiders a 58.1% probability of victory.