April 20, 2007

Box Score

ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. - Rhode Island senior Eric Larson (Bradenton, Fla.) went 3-for-5 with a homerun, a stolen base and four RBI as the Rhode Island baseball team recorded an 8-5 win over St. Bonaventure on Friday, April 20, at Handler Park in St. Bonaventure, N.Y. Senior Gregg Allen (Dighton, Mass.) also led the Rams offensively with two doubles, while junior Shaun Hagey (Ephrata, Pa.) went 2-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored.

Rhody jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning as senior Dave Savard (Nashua, N.H.) scored on Larson's single to center and classmate Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) reached the plate on junior Zach Zaneski's (Waterford, Conn.) sac-fly to right field.

The Bonnies evened things up in the bottom of the third and took a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the fourth before sophomore Dan Rhault (Lincoln, R.I.) tied the score, 3-3, in the top of the fifth on an RBI single by Larson. SBU went on to reclaim the lead with a two-run fifth inning effort.

After Brown singled to left to start the seventh, Larson tied things at 5-5 with his team-leading seventh homerun of the season. Zaneski, who took first after being hit by a pitch (for the ninth time this season), went on to score the go-ahead run on Allen's second double of the game. Rhody stretched its lead to 8-5 in the top of the ninth on runs by Cunningham and Zaneski before junior Jamie Degidio (Narragansett, R.I.) retired the final three Bonnies to pick up the win.

In all, Degidio threw four-and-two-thirds innings, giving up just three hits with four strikeouts and no runs. Redshirt senior starter Adam Perkins (Hudson, N.H.) earned a no-decision after striking out two and allowing five runs (three earned) in 4.1 innings on the hill.

With the win, Rhode Island improves to 9-22 (6-7 Atlantic 10) while St. Bonaventure drops to 13-17 (5-7 Atlantic 10). The two teams will meet again, tomorrow afternoon, at 12:00 p.m. at Handler Field in St. Bonaventure, N.Y.