How It Happened
Rhode Island went toe-to-toe with the best team in the Big East Tuesday, falling 12-8 in a slugfest at Connecticut.

URI (9-24) trailed 5-0 after the first two innings, falling into an early hole. UConn – the first-place team in the Big East – added one more in the bottom of the fourth and looked to be headed toward an easy victory.

Rhode Island fought back though, scoring three runs in the top of the fifth. Sami Villarreal and Jessica Hennelly started the inning with back-to-back singles before Skyler Rapuano lined a one-out triple to the gap in right center. Rapuano later came in on an RBI groundout by Caitlin O'Leary to cut the deficit in half at 6-3.

UConn (25-13) came right back with two runs in the bottom of the fifth to push the lead back to five runs. URI continued to fight, loading the bases with no outs in the top of the sixth. Ari Castillo and Vicki Viaclovsky both singled and Villarreal drew a four-pitch walk to fill the bases for Hennelly. Hennelly lined a single off the pitcher's glove to bring pinch runner Margaux Lesser in from third. With one out, Rapuano lofted a fly ball to left field that was dropped, allowing Villarreal to score and make the score 8-5. A strikeout and popup ended the rally.

The Huskies got was seemed to be a crushing blow when Briana Marcelino launched a grand slam to extend the lead to 12-5. Marcelino had a massive day at the plate, as she homered, doubled, singled, scored twice and drove in six runs from the leadoff spot.

Rhode Island refused to go quietly. Cassie Swenson walked to start the top of the seventh, and Castillo and Viaclovsky followed with back-to-back singles to load the bases. Villarreal lined a double to the gap in left center, making the score 12-7 as Swenson and Castillo scored. Hennelly brought Viaclovsky in with an RBI groundout for the final run of the game, as the comeback attempt ended with a foul out and strikeout.
 
Inside the Box Scores

• Over its last five games, Rhode Island has 56 hits, or 11.2 per game. Over the first 28 games, the Rams had 160 hits, or 5.7 per game.
• Four different Rhode Island players had multiple hits, as the team had 11 for the game.
• Eight different Rams scored one time.
• Senior Sami Villarreal doubled, singled, walked, drove in two and scored once.
• Junior Jessica Hennelly singled twice, drove in two runs and scored one run. She has a five-game hitting streak during which she is 9-for-16 (.563) with 5 RBI.
• Senior Ari Castillo and sophomore Vicki Viaclovsky both singled twice and scored one run.
• Junior Skyler Rapuano tripled, drove in two runs and scored once.
• Junior Caitlin O'Leary singled and drove in one run. The base hit extended her hitting streak to seven games, matching the longest for the team this season. Sami Villarreal and Cassie Swenson both had seven-game streaks earlier in the year.
• Junior Rachel Zingerman singled, walked and stolen a base.
• Sophomores Ainsley Yoshizumi and Margaux Lesser both appeared as pinch runners and scored once each.
• Yoshizumi has scored in each of her last five appearances as a pinch runner.

What's Next
Rhode Island is off for a full week until it hosts Massachusetts in a single conference game next Tuesday, April 19. First pitch is set for 3 p.m.