May 27, 2011

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CAMDEN, N.J. - The Rhode Island baseball team was knocked out of the Atlantic 10 Championship after falling to Richmond, 7-2, in Friday night's elimination game at Campbell's Field.

Richmond got on the board in the bottom of the first to take a 1-0 lead but Rhody came back and evened things up in the top of the third when freshman Jeff Roy scored on an RBI single by senior Tom Coulombe after leading off with a double to left centerfield.

Junior starter Anthony Pisani, meanwhile, retired seven consecutive batters until giving up a single and a walk in the bottom of the fourth. Billy Barber then homered to give the Spiders a 4-1 lead before a fifth-inning sac-fly by Mike Mergenthaler put Richmond on top 5-1. The Spiders then added another in the bottom of the sixth for the 6-1 advantage.

Coulombe would go on to score Rhody's second run - on an eighth-inning single by senior Kenny Burns - but the Spiders plated a run of their own in the bottom of the frame to seal the 7-2 win.

Pisani took the loss for Rhody, giving up five runs on five hits over five innings of work. Richmond's Jacob Mayers was credited with the complete-game win as he struck out 11 batters while holding the Rams to just six hits on the night.

With the loss, the Rams end their season with an overall record of 31-22. Richmond, which improves to 29-26-2, advances to take on top-seeded Charlotte in Saturday's championship game.