KINGSTON, R.I. - The Rhode Island baseball team dropped a pair of games to Atlantic 10 conference foe Dayton on Friday afternoon at Bill Beck Field.
The Rams (17-23, 7-7 A-10) lost 9-3 in the first game before the Flyers (17-27, 9-5 A-10) took another win in game two at 6-2.
Dayton 9, Rhode Island 3
The Flyers had control from the start in the first game, scoring five unanswered runs in six innings to open up the series. Rhode Island struggled to get its offense going, recording its first hit of the day when
Billy Butler doubled in the bottom of the fourth.
Eventually, the Rams got on the board in the sixth thanks to a Dayton miscue that pushed
Addison Kopack across. With the bases loaded, Rhody threatened to do further damage but the visiting team got out of the inning to preserve their lead at 5-1. The Flyers went on to put up four additional scores in the top of the seventh, re-extending the advantage to 9-1.
A
Billy Butler home run in the bottom of the ninth plated an additional two runs for the Rams, but they were inconsequential.
Dayton 6, Rhode Island 2
Rhode Island struck first in the second game, going up 1-0 in the bottom of the first when
Addison Kopack scored on
Billy Butler's base knock.
After a sac fly tied the score in the top of the second, a two-run shot to left field put the Flyers back on top in the fourth. Kopack later responded for the Rams, driving in
Alex Ramirez with a single up the middle that trimmed the deficit to 3-2 in the fifth.
Rhody starter
Trystan Levesque was in cruise control following the Ramirez run, working around one base runner over the next two frames and taking four batters down swinging. He racked up nine total strikeouts in his quality start before handing the ball off to reliever
Broc French at the start of the eighth. The Flyers, who had been held to three-straight zeros, attacked and scored a trio of two-out runs to distance themselves, 6-2, and held on for the win.
Inside the Box Score
- Redshirt senior Billy Butler was 3-for-6 at the plate. Two of his hits were for extra bases, as he had one double and a home run.
- Freshmen Cole Carroll and Colin Maloney, as well as graduate student Bo Brutti, were all scoreless in their relief appearances during the day.
- Carroll had a career-high three strikeouts in his 1.2 innings of work.
- Butler was one of three Rams that finished the day with three hits, joined by sophomore Eric Genther (3-for-8) and redshirt junior Addison Kopack (3-for-8).
- Kopack had one RBI and scored a team-high two runs.
- Both teams had two errors in the first game.
What's Next
Due to inclement weather, the rest of the schedule for this weekend's series remains in flux. The teams will play a third game either on Saturday, April 29 or Sunday, April 30. Details will be released once they are finalized.
