How it Happened
A late-game outburst caused Rhode Island Baseball to lose its second game of the weekend to Saint Joseph's, dropping a 12-5 result at Smithson Field on Saturday afternoon.
The Rams (20-26, 10-10 Atlantic 10) were in contention for most of the action, using a bout of one-run innings to trail by just two until the Hawks (24-20-1, 14-6 A-10) put up five runs in the eighth and put the game away.
For the second-straight day, Rhody had been first to strike.
Alex Ramirez plated the opening run of the afternoon with an RBI single before
Billy Butler's double drove in Ramirez to put the Rams on top 2-0 in the third.
Saint Joseph's answered quickly, scratching six across in the next few frames to take a 6-2 lead in the fourth. Rhody starter
Trystan Levesque was chased out during the spree, handing the ball off to
Zach Fernandez, the first of three arms to appear from URI's bullpen.
The teams traded scores in the middle of the game, as a sac fly from
Michael Anderson, an RBI groundout from
Addison Kopack and a double off the bat of
Anthony DePino drove in three more runners for the Rams while the Hawks added to their total with a solo shot.
The 5-7 deficit that URI faced in the seventh was the closest it got down the stretch, as Saint Joseph's propelled itself to 12 runs in the eighth.
Eric Genther drove in Rhody's final run of the day with a sac fly in the ninth, locking the score in at 12-6 in favor of the home team.
Inside the Box Score
- Junior Trystan Levesque was tagged with the loss, moving his season record to 5-4. His start lasted 3.1 innings.
- Redshirt junior Alex Ramirez led the offense with two hits (2-for-4) and scored one run.
- Redshirt junior Zach Fernandez was excellent in relief, letting up just one run in 3.2 innings of work. He fanned six batters and issued one walk while scattering a pair of hits.
- Freshman Michael Anderson scored twice and was one of four players to hit a double, joined by Ramirez, redshirt senior Billy Butler and redshirt junior Addison Kopack.
- Redshirt junior Broc French tossed one scoreless inning to close the game out.
- Six different Rams recorded an RBI in the game.
What's Next
Rhode Island will close out the series at Saint Joseph's with a 1 p.m. series finale on Sunday, May 14. The game will be streamed on ESPN_.