Billy Barber never really thought about the mental side of hitting.
Then a visit from a sports psychologist just before the University of Richmond began its season changed his approach.
Barber now owns a 16-game hitting streak, thanks in part, he said, to the power of positive thinking. He extended it by collecting three hits and driving in three runs as the Spiders rallied for an 8-6 victory over Virginia Commonwealth last night before 513 spectators at The Diamond.
The 6-5, 230-pound junior outfielder from Fredericksburg, who doubles as a closer, has a career .330 average with 27 homers and 106 RBI. He's hitting .427 and ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in home runs (7), sixth in RBI (32), and fourth in steals (11).
The sidearming right-hander also picked up his fourth save last night with two scoreless innings, lowering his ERA to 1.66, as the Spiders (14-13) ended a ten-game losing streak to the Rams (15-14).
The visit from the psychologist, he said, "just kind of clicked with me."
"I'd always worry about past at-bats and worry about what was going to happen later in the game," he said. "[His presentation] was about being positive in the [batter's] box. When you're in a pressure situation, telling yourself, 'I'm at my best when it counts the most.' Just taking things slow. Don't worry about the past because it'll create fear. If you worry about the future, it'll create anxiety. If you worry about the present, there's no pressure on you."
Barber followed a pair of first-inning walks by lacing an RBI double into the right-field corner. He singled in a run in the third, reached on an error in the fifth, doubled to right-center in the seventh, and was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded in the eighth.
"He's a very cerebral person," UR coach Mark McQueen said. "He really studies pitchers and their pitch patterns. He usually has a pretty good plan when he goes up there."
Richmond built a 4-1 lead, fell behind 6-4, then registered its seventh comeback win with a four-run eighth. The Spiders fueled the inning with four hit batsmen and Derek Boliek's two-run single.
"That's something we haven't been doing," said McQueen, who has been forced to shuffle his lineup because of season-ending injuries to several starters.
"We've been taking some middle innings off and letting teams get back in games. I thought today we reacted real well. I thought we played nine good innings today."
VCU coach Paul Keyes rested some of his starters. The Rams got a home run from Nathan Furry -- his first RBI of the season -- and two RBI from Joe Van Meter during a four-run fifth inning.
"I thought they [UR] played well for nine innings," Keyes said. "I thought we played well for about half the game. I don't think we had good focus until the fifth."
Richmond ------------------------- 101 020 040 -- 8
VCU ------------------------- 100 040 100 -- 6
W: Marshall (2-1) L: Watson (2-1) S: Barber (4). Records: VCU 15-14, Richmond 14-13.
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