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University of Rhode Island

butler walkoff fordham
Connor Caldon
4
Fordham FOR 18-24, 9-6 A-10
6
Winner Rhode Island URI 14-24, 6-9 A-10
Fordham FOR
18-24, 9-6 A-10
4
Final
6
Rhode Island URI
14-24, 6-9 A-10
Winner
Score By Periods
Team 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 R H E
Fordham FOR 0 0 3 0 0 0 1 0 0 4 4 2
Rhode Island URI 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 5 6 6 1

W: Hughes, Tommy (3-0) L: BERG, Aric (5-5)

Game Recap: Baseball |

Butler Walks off Fordham With Grand Slam

Rhode Island Starters
DePino (3B), Moroney (SS), Anderson (1B), Hopko (RF), Perron (2B), Hindle (LF), Grotyohann (DH), Borrelli (C), Henschel (CF), Johnston (P)

Fordham Starters
Bucciero (3B), Thiesse (CF), Kanellis (RF), Sahler (LF), McAndrews (C), Ocko (2B), Luttazi (1B), Pelinski (DH), Genaro (SS), Perez (P) 

How it Happened
Rob Butler's pinch-hit grand slam in the bottom of the ninth allowed Rhode Island Baseball to walk off Fordham, 6-4, on Sunday afternoon at Bill Beck Field. 

Rhody (14-24, 6-9 A-10) had trailed for the entirety of the game before its comeback. After Fordham (18-24, 9-6 A-10) sat down 15 straight batters, Jack Hopko led off the final frame with a single and was quickly joined on the base paths by DJ Perron (walk) and Will Hindle (single). Hopko then scored on a wild pitch to bring the deficit down to 4-2 and TJ Gormley drew a full count pinch-hit walk to juice the bases back up. Butler then stepped into the box and delivered an opposite field home run on the second pitch he saw to prevent the visiting Rams from sweeping the series.

Fordham had originally used a long ball of its own to take a 3-0 lead in the top of the third. While Reece Moroney's bunt single got URI on the board in its half of the inning, the team was held in check the rest of the way. 

Following the three-run homer, starting pitcher Connor Johnston settled in and sat down 11-straight hitters through the sixth. Rhody made its first call to the bullpen in the seventh, tapping Jeremy Urena, and the visitors broke through again with a two-out RBI single. 

Connor Grotyohann retired all three Rams on strikes in the eighth before Tommy Hughes worked around a two-out walk in the ninth to set the stage for the offense. 

Inside the Box Score
  • Sophomore Connor Johnston pitched a quality start in 6.0 innings. He struck out a career-high nine batters and allowed three runs on as many hits while issuing a pair of walks. 
  • Graduate student Tommy Hughes was credited with the win, improving his season record to 3-0. 
  • Redshirt junior Rob Butler's home run was his second of the season.
  • Rhode Island now has 38 home runs from 12 different players in 2024. Seven different Rams have two or more bombs.
  • Redshirt freshman Will Hindle was 2-for-3 with a double, one run scored a stolen base. 
  • Redshirt freshman Ryan Henschel was 1-for-3 with a double and one run scored.
  • Freshman Reece Moroney finished 1-for-4 with one RBI and added a stolen base.
  • URI outhit its visitors, 6-4. 
  • Fordham committed two errors, while Rhode Island had one. 
Up Next
Rhode Island will hit the road for an Atlantic 10 series at Davidson, May 3-5. First pitch on Friday is set for 5:30 p.m. 

 
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