September 29, 2009

Richardson makes major league debut with Red Sox

Former Cowley College baseball pitcher, Dustin Richardson, made his major league debut Monday night with the Boston Red Sox.

Richardson, who was called up to the big league club earlier in the day, was summoned to pitch against the Toronto Blue Jays with two outs in the bottom of the fourth inning. Richardson wound up pitching 1 1/3 innings of scoreless relief in front of 37,591 fans at Boston’s Fenway Park.

Richardson joins the Cleveland Indians’ Travis Hafner, and the Arizona Diamondbacks’ Rusty Ryal as former Tigers in the major leagues.

“We are extremely excited for him,” Cowley head coach Dave Burroughs said. “Getting called up in a pennant race and being able to pitch in historic Fenway Park is about as exciting as it gets.”

Richardson’s call to the big leagues was not unexpected as he had pitched extremely well this season at both the Double A and Triple A levels. While pitching for the Double A Portland Sea Dogs he went 2-2 with a 2.70 earned run average. He allowed only 42 hits in 63 1/3 innings, while striking out 80.

After being called up to Triple A Pawtucket, Richardson allowed just two runs in 10 2/3 innings. He also struck out 16 and walked only two.

The 6-foot-6 lefthander pitched at Cowley during the 2003 and 2004 seasons. As a sophomore, Richardson earned first-team All-Conference honors as he went 8-3 with a 2.04 ERA.

He went on to play baseball at Texas Tech University, where he went 4-2 with a 4.17 ERA as a senior in 2006. He was drafted by the Boston Red Sox in the fifth round of the 2006 First-Year Player Draft.