Team has now lost its last 11 games
A series of misfortunes keep Rhody patient as they continue to rebuild. PHOTO CREDIT: gohody.com
This past weekend, the University of Rhode Island Softball team traveled to face the Saint Louis Billikens in a three-game series, but unfortunately, they did not manage to get a victory on the road.
On Saturday, the teams faced off in a doubleheader with the Billikens taking both games. In the first game, the Rams fell 5-1 in a game where Saint Louis was in total control of. URI mustered their first run of the game as Leilyn Alvarez scored off a Caitlin O’Leary single in the sixth inning to make it 4-1 up to that point.
Saint Louis answered back at the bottom of the inning with another run as Sadie Wise doubled to bring in Kristi Stevenson to make it 5-1 and they closed the game up in the seventh.
In the second game of the day, URI fought back against Saint Louis. After the Billikens took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning, URI finally got on the scoreboard in the top of the fourth inning. Ainsley Yoshizumi took advantage of a fielder’s choice to score the lone run of the game for the Rams.
The game was tied at 1-1, but it wasn’t for long. Saint Louis bounced back with a five-run inning in the bottom of the fourth to make the game 6-1. Then, in the bottom of the sixth, they extended their lead to 7-1. At this point, the Rams’ effort could not overcome this deficit. Saint Louis went on to win 7-1 to sweep the doubleheader.
For Head Coach Whitney Goldstein, she said her team showed resilience as they did not give up during the doubleheader and it was a step forward for their plan for their final game of the series against the Billikens.
“There were moments that we showed a lot of fight [and] we stuck to the game plan,” Goldstein said. “The biggest thing was trying to come out with a better offensive plan on Sunday.”
Hoping to avoid a series sweep, the team came into Sunday’s game with a different level of energy. Right off the bat, the Rams struck first in the opening inning with two runs to start the game. Skyler Rapuano stole home plate to put the Rams up 1-0. Later in the same inning, Cassie Swenson singled to bring in Ari Castillo from third base to put URI up 2-0.
But the lead was short lived as Saint Louis came back in the bottom of the first and struck back, as Gabbie Kowalik hit a two-run homer to tie the game up at 2-2. With two runners on base, Cami Newbanks doubled to bring in both of the runners in to make the game 4-2 in favor of Saint Louis. Newbanks would eventually score off a Jane Kaniecki singled to make the game 5-2. Saint Louis took that 5-2 lead and never looked back.
The Billikens added seven more runs over the next three innings to put the mercy rule in play. Unfortunately, the Rams were unable to get runners past second base and would ultimately fall 12-2 in five innings.
Even though the Rams lost the series and the team is experiencing a losing streak, multiple team members said that they realize that this is part of the process of rebuilding the program. Rams catcher Susan Harrison recognized the improvement of the team since the start of the season and the hard work they are putting in to improve.
“Even though the scores didn’t reflect that this weekend, it is important to realize that we have made really big strides since the beginning of the season,” Harrison said. “We are focusing on staying with the process and working to get at least one percent better each day. A couple of bad games does not make us a bad team.”
After dropping another contest to in-state rival Bryant on Tuesday, the Rams look to turn it around on Thursday when they welcome Merrimack to the URI Softball Complex for a 4 p.m. contest. They’ll return to conference play this weekend when they take on St. Bonaventure at home. The first game of the series begins Saturday at noon.