Rhode Island Starters
DePino (3B), Genther (RF), Anderson (1B), Perron (LF), Moroney (SS), Hopko (RF), Grotyohann (DH), Penney (2B), Butler (C), Sposato (P)
George Washington Starters
Gates (RF), Nicholson (C), Lavey (DH), Young (1B), Ditomaso (LF), Schwartz (CF), Wacker (3B), Tuffy (2B), Mullen (SS), Jeffries (P)
How it Happened
A late-game push lifted Rhode Island Baseball to a 14-6 victory over George Washington on Saturday afternoon at Barcroft Park.
Rhody (12-20, 5-6 Atlantic 10) scored five times in the eighth before adding four more in the final frame to secure their first conference road win of the season.
The rally began when the Rams loaded up the bases with no outs to lead off the eighth and officially got going when
Michael Anderson was hit by a pitch.
DJ Perron then drew a run-scoring walk before a pair of RBI singles from
Jack Hopko and
Connor Grotyohann pushed the lead to 9-5.
Rob Butler added one more when he was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded.
A solo shot off the bat of a Revolutionary (22-16, 5-6 A-10) trimmed the deficit down to four runs in the bottom half of the frame, but it was the closest that the home team got as URI's offense continued to produce.
Reece Moroney brought in a pair of runners with a two-RBI double in the ninth before a sac fly from
DJ Perron and a bases-loaded walk drawn by
Anthony DePino boosted the team to its final margin.
Before the Rams took control, there had been plenty of back-and-forth action as the teams were tied at 5-5 by the end of the fifth inning. The Revolutionaries scored in each of the first three frames to build a 5-4 lead before a Hopko homer knotted things up. The long ball was working for Rhody early, as Grotyohann and Perron also took balls deep during that spread.
Starting arm
Sean Sposato let up each of GW's first five runs but was relieved by
Jeremy Urena, who hurled 5.0 innings of one-run ball while the bats got going.
Inside the Box Score
- Sophomore Jeremy Urena was credited with the win, improving to 2-0 on the year. He scattered seven hits while avoiding any freebies in his appearance.
- Junior Eric Genther drew five walks, tying the program record. The last player to do so was Dave Savard in 2005.
- As a team, URI worked a season-high 14 walks.
- Sophomore Jack Hopko led the offense with a 3-for-5 performance. Two of his hits were for extra bases, as he doubled and had a home run.
- Sophomore Connor Grotyohann collected a game-high three RBI (2-for-6) and scored one run.
- Junior Kenny Heon and redshirt freshman Jake Foster combined for the final 1.2 innings, holding George Washington scoreless. Neither gave up a hit nor issued any walks.
- Rhode Island recorded its ninth multi-home run game of the year. Additionally, the team turned in its seventh game with double-digit hits.
- The Revolutionaries threw seven arms out of the bullpen.
Up Next
The teams will compete in a rubber match at 12 p.m. to finish out the series on Sunday, April 21.