June 4, 2005

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The University of Rhode Island baseball team had a rough introduction to the NCAA Tournament on Friday night when Long Beach State scored eight runs in the second inning, including seven of them with two outs. It was just the second time in 54 games this season that Rhody had allowed double-figures in runs and just the third time in 31 games that the Rams yielded more than five runs.

But the Rams did get one game in the NCAA Tournament under their belts and other than the eight-spot in the second inning, Rhody hung in there against the No. 12 ranked 49ers.

Now the Rams get to come back under the double-elimination format and take on Pepperdine on Saturday. The Waves lost to No. 21 ranked USC 7-3 in the first game Friday. Pepperdine (38-22) is making its third-straight NCAA appearance and has played in the NCAA Tournament 22 times.

"We are going to play a lot better than we played today. That is how I see tomorrow's game," Leoni said at the press conference following Friday's game.

The Waves are led by Steve Kleen, who is batting .360 with 54 RBIs, while Chad Tracy is hitting .357 with 12 homers and 61 RBIs.

Rhode Island will send lefthander Zack Zuercher to the mound Saturday. Zuercher, a third-team All-American in 2004, is 6-3 with a 3.35 ERA this season. He is 14-6 in his two years at Rhode Island, where he transferred after a season at North Carolina. Zuercher has 99 strikeouts this season and has 222 in his two-year career at URI, leaving him second all-time.

Despite having to go to their bullpen in the second inning Friday, the Rams pen is actually very rested. Of the four relievers that pitched against Long Beach, only junior lefty Adam Perkins has pitched more than 12 innings. Rhode Island did not use No. 5 starter and long reliever James Norcott, and have set-up man Tom Venedam and closer Mick Lefort rested.