Rhode Island Starters
DePino (3B), Moroney (SS), Anderson (1B), Genther (CF), Perron (2B), Hopko (RF), Hindle (LF), Grotyohann (DH), Butler (C), Sposato (P)
Fordham Starters
Bucciero (3B), Thiesse (CF), Kanellis (RF), Sahler (LF), McAndrews (C), Ocko (2B), Luttazi (1B), Pelinski (DH), Genaro (SS), Dowd (P)
How it Happened
The Rhode Island Baseball team made a push late in the game but ultimately fell 10-8 to Fordham on Saturday afternoon at Bill Beck Field.
Rhody (13-24, 5-9 A-10) had trailed by seven runs before storming back to bring the game within two in the bottom of the seventh. The team kept the pressure on, getting the tying run on base in the eighth inning, but was unable to pull off the comeback.
Though URI was first to get on the board when
Anthony DePino came in on an
Eric Genther single in the opening frame, the visiting Rams (18-23, 9-5 A-10) were in control early. Four hits and a sac fly allowed Fordham to jump out 5-1 in the top of the third, with three of those runs coming in on two outs.
Rhode Island answered the push in its half with another Genther single and a sac fly from
DJ Perron that trimmed the deficit down to 5-3, but the visitors got both runs back and added one more with a pair of RBI doubles.
Freshman
Joe Sabbath, who relieved starting arm
Sean Sposato in that inning, went on to pitch two scoreless before another two-RBI double increased Fordham's lead to 10-3 and ended his day.
Momentum then seemed to shift in favor of URI when the team loaded up the bases with nobody out in the bottom of the seventh.
Brody McKenzie got the rally started when he drew a walk and Perron carried it into the following at-bat when he smacked a two-run double out to left field.
Jack Hopko then roped a two-bagger of his own that plated another two runs to bring the Rams within two but a pair of ground balls and a swinging strikeout ended the opportunity.
Reece Moroney walked and
Michael Anderson was hit by a pitch in the eighth to bring the go-ahead run to the plate but the rest of the lineup could not capitalize. Reliever
Kenny Heon had the team in position to pull off the comeback as he did not allow any baserunners in his 1.2 innings of work.
Inside the Box Score
- Prior to first pitch, head coach Raphael Cerrato and his staff honored the 2005 Atlantic 10 Championship team in a special ceremony.
- Junior Anthony DePino tied the program's single-game hit by pitch record by getting plunked three times. Teammate Eric Genther (vs. Dayton; April 1, 2022) along with Jeff Roy (vs. Quinnipiac; April 9, 2013) and Connor Foreman (vs. Saint Joseph's; May 17, 2013) have also achieved the feat.
- Junior Kenny Heon was dominant in relief, retiring four of the five batters he faced on strikes for a new season-best.
- Freshman Joe Sabbath struck out a career-high six batters in 3.0 innings of relief. He was hit three times and charged with two runs.
- Graduate student DJ Perron tallied a team-best three RBI on a 1-for-3 clip at the plate. He also scored one run and drew a walk.
- Rhode Island stole a season-high eight bases. Both DePino (two) and junior Eric Genther (three) had multiple steals.
- Genther was perfect at the plate and recorded three of the team's five hits.
- Freshman Reece Moroney worked three walks and scored two runs.
- Sophomore Connor Grotyohann pitched one scoreless inning of relief and fanned two Rams.
- Redshirt senior Sean Sposato was tagged with the loss (1-4). He was charged with all eight runs that Fordham scored in his 3.1-inning start.
Up Next
The series finale will be played at Noon on Sunday, April 28. Action will be streamed on ESPN+.
