Rhody baseball making national noise heading into conference play

Against tough opposition so far this season, Rhody has a winning record before conference play. Photo by Greg Clark.

The University of Rhode Island Men’s Baseball team advanced to 9-7 on the season after logging a 7-3 home win against Sacred Heart and losing a close series to Charlotte two games to one. 

Rhody first took on New England rival Sacred Heart University on Wednesday at Bill Beck Field, capping off a six-game home stand after they swept UMass Lowell and Bryant in separate series. 

The Rams struggled offensively to start, failing to rack up a single run in the first three innings. However, Rhody flexed their pitching prowess, holding the Pioneers to zero runs as well. This defense was led by freshman starting titcher Trystan Levesque and redshirt senior second baseman Josh Brodeur.

The fourth inning was when runs finally found the scoreboard, with Sacred Heart getting on the board first. They drove in a run off a single after Levesque subbed out for relief pitcher Armando Diaz, but Sacred Heart ended the inning with base-runners stranded on second and third.

The Rams responded to the deficit in a big way. Freshman Tommy Cartnick was able to drive in a run off of an infield single to start the comeback, and Rhode Island would go on to add six runs in the fourth inning to take a commanding lead. Timely hitting, advantageous baserunning, and poor defense by Sacred Heart fueled the Rams to take a firm lead. .

Excellent pitching by three different Rams and another RBI from Brodeur made the game 7-1 heading into the seventh inning. However, the Pioneers attempted a late game comeback, putting up two runs in the seventh inning thanks to two infield errors by the Rams. Junior pitcher Nate Seprosky was able to get out of the inning with just the two runs though, and the comeback effort was halted. 

Freshman Broc French and junior Jon Morrison finished the game in quick fashion, each throwing a 1-2-3 inning to give the Rams a 7-3 victory. Brodeur finished the day with two RBI and seven different Ram pitchers saw the mound in the win.

Wednesday’s victory made it six wins in a row for the Rams. When asked what the key to the winning streak was, Head Coach Raphael Cerrato pointed to two things that are some of the most controllable aspects of baseball. 

“Our defense and baserunning have been great,” he said. “We aren’t a team who is going to hit four home runs in a game. We will win games by playing great defense and running the bases well.”

The non-conference schedule has been daunting for the Rams, but the team has responded to the challenge. Entering Monday, Rhody was tied for third for most Quad 1 wins across all of Division I, and they are ranked 18th in the RPI rankings as of Monday

“We are just happy to be out here; we had a weird offseason where we couldn’t play and we are just working hard to make sure we can continue playing,” Cerrato said. “In terms of what this is doing for us, it is showing us that we can compete with anyone and that we can push for a spot in the tournament.”

After the conclusion of the team’s home stand, they headed to Charlotte, North Carolina to take on the Charlotte 49ers in a three-game series.

The first game was well-fought and featured tremendous pitching yet again. Ryan Twitchell threw nearly the entire game, giving up just one earned run. However, the Rams fell in extra innings by a score of 2-1.

The next two games were split by the two sides, with Rhody taking the second matchup 6-3 and the 49ers taking the third one 6-3.

Great hitting by Brodeur and junior Austin White highlighted these two games and Levesque and fellow pitcher Mike Webb threw excellent games. 

The weekend series has Rhody sitting with a record of 9-7 for the season before they travel to Storrs, Connecticut to take on UCONN in a three-game away series. Wednesday’s game vs Bryant missed publication deadline.