Rhode Island Starters 
DePino (3B), Genther (RF), Moroney (SS), Hopko (DH), Perron (LF), Thompson (1B), Penney (2B), Toro (C), McKenzie (CF), Levesque (P) 

George Washington Starters 
Gates (RF), Marmo (LF), Rogan (1B), Clough (C), Schwartz (CF), Jones (DH), Acker (3B), Tufano (SS), Walsh (2B), Jeffries (P) 

How it Happened
Rhode Island Baseball's nine-game winning streak came to a disappointing end on Saturday afternoon at Bill Beck Field when the Rams fell to George Washington, 8-7. 

The Revolutionaries (11-11, 2-3 A-10) put up six unanswered runs down the stretch to even the series between the teams at 1-1. After leading off the top of the ninth with a double, GW went on to plate the tying run with another two-bagger before claiming the lead on a long single. George Washington threatened to do further damage, but Connor Johnston came out of the bullpen and helped facilitate a double play that ended the inning. Rhode Island (13-9, 4-1 A-10) had no response in its half of the frame, as the visitors' closer retired all three batters he faced.

Rhody's offense got off to a hot start, scoring in each of the first four innings before the bats cooled off. URI built a 7-2 advantage off of a staggering five home runs from four different players, with Jack Hopko taking two different pitches deep. The Rams left five runners on base throughout the remainder of the game, struggling to get much else going after the early spurt.

Inside the Box Score

• Swansea, Mass. native Brayden, a pediatric cancer survivor who helped design graduate student DJ Perron's game cleats, threw out the first pitch.
• Juniors Jack Hopko (3-for-5) and Nick Toro (3-for-4) were tied for the team lead with three hits apiece. Hopko racked up three RBI on two home runs.
• Sophomores Reece Moroney and Scott Penney, as well as senior Anthony DePino, also took GW pitchers deep.
• Moroney had a multi-hit game, finishing 2-for-5 with a pair of RBI.
• Senior Brody McKenzie went 2-for-3 at the plate. 
• Junior Connor Johnston was the only one of the Rams' five pitchers that avoided giving up any runs. 
• Redshirt senior Trystan Levesque gave URI a 5.0-inning start and was tagged with two runs. He scattered four hits while walking two batters and fanning four. 
• Sophomore Joe Sabbath was hit with the loss, moving his season record to 1-1. 

Up Next
Rhody will close out the series against GW with a 12 p.m. rubber match on Sunday, March 23.