How It Happened
Rhode Island celebrated its Senior Day with a doubleheader sweep of St. Bonaventure, beating the Bonnies by scores of 8-5 and 3-2 Saturday afternoon. The Rams (8-23, 3-10 Atlantic 10) have now won three games in a row for the first time since 2019.

Game 1 – Rhode Island 8, St. Bonaventure 5
Rhode Island pitcher Liz Lynchard set a single-game program record with 15 strikeouts in a dominant performance. She had at least one strikeout in every inning and fanned every St. Bonaventure starter at least once. Lynchard struck out the side in the third, fifth and seventh innings.

With Lynchard strong in the circle, the offense came up with five runs over the final two innings to ensure the victory. With the scored tied 3-3 in the fifth, Cassie Swenson had an RBI single and Ari Castillo added a run-scoring double to put the Rams up by two. After the Bonnies tied the game with a pair in the sixth, Caitlin O'Leary delivered a sacrifice fly to drive in Ainsley Yoshizumi and Castillo later drilled a two-run homer to provide the winning runs.

Game 2 – Rhode Island 3, St. Bonaventure 2
The Rams eventually figured out St. Bonaventure starter Ally Haskell to pull out a well-played second game. The Bonnies scored an unearned run in the top of the first inning, and the scored remaining 1-0 until the bottom of the fifth inning, as Haskell limited Rhode Island to one base runner through the first four innings.

In the bottom of the fifth, Vicky Viaclovsky led off with a single up the middle, and Sami Villarreal followed with a bunt single. A sacrifice bunt by Susan Harrison moved pinch runner Ainsley Yoshizumi and Villarreal into scoring position. Pinch hitter Margaux Lesser followed with a key at bat, lifting a sacrifice fly to left field that drove in Yoshizumi with the tying run. Jessica Hennelly then lined a single to right field to bring Villarreal in with the go-ahead run.

St. Bonaventure (7-24, 1-13 A-10) got three straight walks with one out to load the bases in the top of the sixth. However, relief pitcher Liz Lynchard induced a big 1-2-3 double play off the bat of leadoff hitter Haley Strang to end the threat. To that point, Strang had been 6-for-7 on the day.

Castillo led off the bottom of the sixth with her second home run of the day, providing what proved to be a pivotal run. With two outs in the top of the seventh, St. Bonaventure got an RBI single from Madison Stewart to make the score 3-2. With runners on the corners and two outs, Lynchard struck out Tierney Fitzgerald to end the game and secure the sweep.

Inside the Box Scores

• Before the games, seniors Ari Castillo, Susan Harrison, Sami Villarreal and student manager Kendra Haskell were honored.
• Rhode Island had a team batting average of .423 for the day, combining for 22 hits over the two games.
• Senior Ari Castillo had a monster day at the plate. She was 5-for-7 with two home runs, one double five runs batted in and three runs scored.
• She moved into fifth place in program history with 16 career home runs.
• Junior Rachel Zingerman also was 5-for-7 at the plate with a double and three runs scored.
• Zingerman has seven hits over her last three games.
• Sophomore Ainsley Yoshizumi appeared in both games as a pinch runner and scored twice.
• Junior Liz Lynchard had 18 strikeouts in 8.2 innings of work. She picked up both her fifth win and her second save of the season.
• Freshman Cameron Whiteford had one of her strongest outings of the season. She improved to 2-2 while hurling 5.1 innings without an earned run. She also struck out five batters.
• Senior Sami Villarreal and sophomore Vicky Viaclovsky each had three hits on the day.
• Juniors Caitlin O'Leary and Jessica Hennelly had two hits and one RBI apiece.

What's Next
Rhode Island and St. Bonaventure close out the three-game series with a single contest Sunday at 12 p.m.