How it Happened
The Rhode Island Baseball team came out swinging in a Friday afternoon series opener at the University of Massachusetts and eventually cruised to an 11-5 victory on Earl Lorden Field. The Rams (19-23, 9-7 Atlantic 10) used 14 hits, which included a trio of home runs, to take down the Minutemen (10-28, 3-13 Atlantic 10) in game one. 

Rhody's bats got going early and outscored the opposition 6-3 in the opening three frames. A pair of singles from Rob Butler and Calvin McCall, as well as a balk, plated runners in the second before Anthony DePino's three-RBI homer in the third re-extended the gap. UMass had tied the score in the bottom of the second with a two-RBI single and a sac fly before DePino put the Rams back on top. 

Following two scoreless innings for both teams, which saw starting pitcher Sean Sposato face the minimum, Billy Butler went deep to left field in the sixth and collected Alex Ramirez along the way. In the next frame, Rob Butler also left the yard with a two-RBI shot of his own that stretched the advantage to 8-3.

Though he did give up the early three-spot to the Minutemen, Sposato settled in and held the team in check before putting a pair of runners on in the seventh. With two outs on the board, Rhode Island called Jeremy Urena in from the bullpen who allowed one of the runs to come home. 

Each side went on to add a final run to its total in the eighth, with DePino and Justin Blumenthal trading RBI singles that put the score at its final difference of 11-5 in favor of URI. 

Inside the Box Score

• Redshirt junior Sean Sposato improved his season record to 3-5 with the result. He struck out four batters and scattered five hits in 6.2 innings of work. 
• Sophomore Anthony DePino is now three home runs away from knocking off Mike Le Bel (2009-13) to be Rhode Island's career home runs leader. DePino has 28, while Le Bel holds the mark with 30. 
• This marks Rhode Island's 15th game with 10-or-more hits in 2023 and its third within the last two weeks. The Rams cranked out 16 and 14 in a doubleheader against Davidson (April 22).
• Both DePino and redshirt senior Billy Butler led the team with three hits apiece. DePino was 3-for-4 with four RBI while Butler was 3-for-5 and drove in two runs. 
• Rhode Island has now finished back-to-back games with at least three home runs. The Rams went deep a season-best five times in the series finale against Dayton last weekend (April 29). 
• Redshirt sophomore Rob Butler has played an important role in that effort, having left the yard twice against the Flyers before his big fly against the Minutemen. 
• Redshirt freshman Brandon Hsu was solid in relief, giving up just one hit in 1.2 scoreless innings.
• Rhody has now achieved double-digit runs in seven games this year. 

What's Next
The teams will return to action with a 1 p.m. game on Saturday, May 6 before capping off the series at 12 p.m. on Sunday, May 7.