May 14, 2005

Box Score

AMHERST, Mass. - The University of Rhode Island baseball team clinched its second-straight Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship with an 8-0 victory over Massachusetts in the second game of Saturday's doubleheader.

"It's great that we accomplished another small goal on the way to accomplish our ultimate goal which is to win the Atlantic 10 Championship and earn a berth in the NCAA Tournament," Rhode Island head coach Frank Leoni said. "We have had a nice run the last couple of years, but hopefully we're just getting started."

Junior lefthander Zack Zuercher (Warwick, R.I.) pitched six scoreless innings, allowing only one hit as the Rams won their 30th game of the season and improved to 18-5 in Atlantic 10 play, which clinches at least a tie for the conference regular season title. Rhode Island secured the No. 1 seed in the Atlantic 10 Tournament for the second-straight season and would clinch the conference regular-season championship outright with a win in Sunday's series finale at 12:00 p.m.

The Rams (30-17) have now won 30 games in a season in each of the past two years. Rhode Island had already wrapped up its third-straight Atlantic 10 East Division title and third-consecutive conference tournamnt berth.

Zuercher was one bloop hit away from a perfect game through six innings. He allowed just one hit, a softly hit double in the fourth inning that sliced its way just inside the foul line in shallow right field. Zuercher struck out five and did not walk a batter as he improved to 5-3 on the year, including 5-1 in Atlantic 10 play. The 2004 Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Year now has an 11-2 two-year record in conference games.

In Atlantic 10 play this year, Zuercher allowed only 29 hits in 55 innings and just 16 runs, 15 of them earned for a 2.45 ERA. He struck out 75 and walked just 14 in eight starts.

Senior closer Mick Lefort (Lincoln, R.I.) came on to pitch a perfect seventh inning.

Senior Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I.) went 2-for-2 with three RBIs and a run scored. Senior Joe Viscuso (Farmingdale, N.Y.) went 2-for-3 and junior Josh Nestor (Nashua, N.H.) had two hits and drove in a run.

The Rams scored two runs in the first inning, which would be all Zuercher needed. Senior Matt Sullivan (Nashua, N.H.) was hit by a pitch with one out and sophomore Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) singled to left field. Sophomore Ryan Cunningham (Centreville, Va.) walked to load the bases and Rainville singled to drive in two runs.

Rhody tacked on three more runs in the third inning to take a 5-0 lead. Brown walked, Cunningham was hit by a pitch and Rainville advanced the runners with a sacrifice bunt. Russo hit a grounder to third and UMass tried to get the out at the plate, but committed an error, allowing Brown to score. Nestor came through with a single to right field to drive in Cunningham and sophomore Dave Savard (Nashua, N.H.) followed with a sac fly to make it 5-0.

The Rams added another run in the fourth on Rainville's second RBI-single of the game and took a 7-0 advantage when Rainville walked and scored on a single by Russo. Savard homered in the 7th for the final margin of victory.