Rhode Island Lineup
White (CF), Coley (3B), Coutts (RF), Ulliana (C), Vargas (1B), Cavaliere (LF), Brodeur (2B), Summers (DH), Ramirez (SS), Cherry (P)

Lamar Lineup
George (RF), Girouard (CF), Coker (DH), JC Correa (2B), Quirion (3B), Kemp (1B), Durand (LF), McCall (C), Weyler (SS), Michael (P)

How It Happened
Trailing 1-0 after four innings, Xavier Vargas evened the score in the top of the fifth with a one-out solo home run.

The Rams (0-1) pulled ahead 2-1 two innings later on another solo shot, this time by Jackson Coutts. The lead was short-lived however as Lamar scored a pair of two-out runs in the home half of the inning to take a 3-2 lead.

Greg Cavaliere drew a leadoff walk in the top of the eighth, stole second and advanced to third on a groundout by Joe Fortin. Alex Ramirez then tripled to right field to drive in Cavaliere and even the score at three apiece.

The Cardinals (1-0) responded with a four-spot in the bottom of the inning, effectively putting the game out of reach. Mark Coley drew a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, and advanced to second on a wild pitch, but was stranded there as the Rams fell by a final score of 7-3.

Inside the Box Score

• Junior Xavier Vargas homered in the top of the fifth for the Rams' first hit of the season.
• Junior Jackson Coutts also homered for Rhode Island. His solo shot put Rhody up 2-1 in the top of the seventh.
• Freshman Alex Ramirez earned the start for the Rams in his collegiate debut. His first career hit was an RBI triple in the top of the eighth.
• Redshirt sophomore Justin Cherry went 6.1 innings in a no-decision start. He struck out seven and allowed three runs, two of which were unearned.
• Junior Ryan Twitchell was charged with the loss, giving up one run on one hit through two thirds of an inning.
• Redshirt senior Tyler Brosius gave up three unearned runs in the bottom of the eighth inning.
• Grad student Thomas Summers and freshman Domenic Picone also made their Rhode Island debuts. Summers was URI's starting DH and Picone struck out the only batter he faced in the bottom of the eighth.

What's Next
Rhode Island and Lamar meet for Game 2 of the series Saturday at 3 p.m. (Eastern).