Rhode Island Starters
DePino (3B), Genther (RF), Moroney (SS), Hopko (LF), Thompson (1B), Penney (2B), Perron (DH), Toro (C), McKenzie (CF), Kopetski (P)
Quinnipiac Starters
McCullough (LF), Garbowski (3B), Mueller (1B), Smith (C), Irizarry (SS), Marino (RF), Knox (2B), Ziesloft (DH), Wright (CF), Seibel (P)
How it Happened
A late surge by Quinnipiac was the difference in Rhode Island Baseball's 9-8 loss to the Bobcats on Tuesday afternoon in Connecticut.
The Rams (13-11) gave up a four-spot in the eighth inning, after coming through with one of their own in the seventh, and were unable to recover. Quinnipiac's (12-10-1) crooked number was fueled by a trio of RBI doubles and a batter plating a run when he grounded out to first.
Rhody had a chance to recover in the top of the ninth when
Scott Penney was plunked to lead things off. Two batters later,
Nicholas Toro was also hit by a pitch to put the go-ahead run aboard for URI but the rest of the lineup was unable to bring either runner in.
Rhode Island had been first to score, putting up a run in the second when Penney scored on a wild pitch and adding another in the third on Jack Hopo's RBI double. After an unearned run scored by
Ryan Thompson put the visitors up 4-0 in the top of the fifth, QU responded with a pair of RBI singles and scored on a miscue of their own to tie the score up at four runs apiece.
In the following frame, the Bobcats claimed their first lead on a solo shot but Rhody answered in the seventh when Hopko delivered a two-run homer of his own. Thompson scored on another error before Toro plated Penney with a sac fly that put the Rams back on top, 8-5, but it was URI's last advantage of the game as Quinnipiac went on to mount its comeback.
Inside the Box Score
- Sophomore Zach Morris was tagged with his second loss of the season, moving his record to 0-2.
- After a 4.0-inning start from sophomore Josh Kopetski, the Rams went on to throw four different relievers.
- Only Dorsy Asencio, who pitched a third of an inning, avoided giving up any runs.
- Junior Jack Hopko led the Rhody offense with a 3-for-5 clip at the plate. He tallied three RBI and scored one run.
- Sophomore Scott Penney accounted for Rhody's other two hits, finishing 2-for-3 with three runs scored.
- Freshman Ryan Thompson worked two walks and scored twice.
- Junior Nicholas Toro registered one RBI.
- The Bobcats had a 10-5 advantage in hits.
- Rhode Island left 11 runners on base over the course of the game.
- Quinnipiac committed four errors, while URI had one miscue.
Up Next
The Rams will continue their road swing with an Atlantic 10 series at Massachusetts, March 28-30. First pitch on Friday is scheduled for 3 p.m. on ESPN+.