How It Happened
Rhode Island (22-28-1, 12-12 Atlantic 10) secured its first postseason appearance in 13 years while also snapping a 12-game winning streak for first-place Saint Louis, as the Rams blanked the Billikens 1-0 in the first game of a doubleheader Saturday. Saint Louis (28-23, 19-5 A-10) took the second game, 5-4, as a late rally by the Rams came up just short.

Game 1 - Rhode Island 1, Saint Louis 0
Freshman Ashley Hibbard was pure brilliance in the circle in the opening game, throwing her first career shutout in Game One. Hibbard (4-2) retired the first 10 batters she faced and gave up just three hits total as she went the distance. Saint Louis entered the weekend on a 12-game winning streak and was the second-best hitting team in the Atlantic 10, but Hibbard shut them down.

The Billikens got a runner to third base with two outs in both the fourth and fifth innings, but Hibbard induced a foul out to end the fourth inning on a nice play by catcher Kylie Bulinski, and she got a strikeout to end the sixth.

The Rhody offense broke through against Saint Louis ace Chloe Wendling in the bottom of the seventh. Hannah Hernandez led off with a single up the middle, and Elena Gonzalez followed with a bunt single. A Kylie Bulinski groundout moved both runners into scoring position. Pinch hitter Caitlin O'Leary appeared to deliver a game-winning grounder, but Saint Louis third baseman Abby Mallo made a great defensive play to throw out Hernandez at the plate on a bang-bang play.

Jessica Hennelly made sure the opportunity did not get wasted, as she laced a single through the right side to drive Gonzalez in for the walk-off victory.

Game 2 - Saint Louis 5, Rhode Island 4
Saint Louis scored four times in the top of the first inning for an early lead and then held off a late Rhody rally. With one down in the top of the first, Natalie Sullivan worked a full-count walk that included multiple borderline pitches that were not called for pitcher Liz Lynchard. Gabbie Kowalik reached on an error, and Abby Mallo followed with another walk to load the bases. Kelsey Etling cleared the bases with a double to left center. She later on an Ashley Marietta groundout to cap the rally.

The Billikens added a run in the third inning on a sacrifice fly by Jocelyn Abbott that brought Grace Kmack in for a 5-0 lead.

Rhody finally broke through with three runs in the bottom of the fourth. Rachel Zingerman and Elena Gonzalez drew back-to-back walks, and after one out, Skyler Rapuano walked to fill the bases. Jessica Hennelly drove in Zingerman with a sacrifice fly that allowed by Gonzalez and Rapuano to advance as well. Becca Zawistowski followed with a lined single to right that drove both runners in to close the gap to 5-3.

In the bottom of the sixth, Kylie Bulinski drew a leadoff walk, and Rapuano dropped a sacrifice bunt that advanced pinch runner Leilyn Alvarez to second. Hennelly then reached on an error that allowed Alverez to come around and make it a one-run game. With two down, pinch hitter Caitlin O'Leary reached on an error. Hennelly, who started the play on second base, tried to come around and tie the game, but she was thrown out at the plate. The Rams were retired in order in the bottom of the seventh to end the game.
 
Inside the Box Scores

• By winning the opener, Rhode Island won its 22nd game of the season, the most for the Rams since winning a program-record 30 games in 2001.
• The Rams also picked up their 12th Atlantic 10 victory, which is the second most in program history. Rhody won 13 A-10 games in 2002.
• The win in Game One was the sixth in a row for URI, matching the longest winning streak for the team since a seven-game streak in 2002. The Rams also had six-game winning streaks in 2008 and 2002.
• Freshman Ashley Hibbard is 4-2 overall on the season, and 3-0 with a 2.27 earned run average in Atlantic 10 play.
• Freshman Hannah Hernandez was 3-for-7 on the day. She raised her overall batting average to .284, and she now has a team-best .314 average in conference play.
• Senior Rachel Zingerman had a single, walk and one run scored on the day. She has reached safely in 12 consecutive games.
• Zingerman also moved into 19th place in program history with the 46th walk of her career.
• Graduate student Elena Gonzalez singled, walked and scored the game-winning run in the opener.
• Freshman Becca Zawistowski singled and drove in two runs in Game Two. She leads the team with 19 RBI for the season.
• Rhode Island is 12-12 in conference play, while Fordham is 10-10. Sunday's results will determine which team is the fifth seed and which is the sixth seed in next week's conference tournament. Fordham plays at George Washington, while URI hosts Saint Louis.

What's Next
Rhode Island and Saint Louis close out the regular season with a single game Sunday at 12 p.m. The game will be streamed on ESPN+.