Seniors Ari Castillo, Susan Harrison and Sami Villarreal were honored prior to Saturday’s doubleheader sweep against St. Bonaventure. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
Over the weekend, the University of Rhode Island Softball team swept St. Bonaventure in a three-game series, their first time sweeping a conference opponent since 2017.
The series also included a doubleheader win in front of almost 300 fans on Senior Day.
The Rams came out strong with an 8-5 win in their first of two games on Saturday. Junior pitcher Liz Lynchard set the single-game program record with 15 strikeouts, recording at least one strikeout every inning and striking out every St. Bonaventure starter at least once.
Offensively, the Rams came up with five runs in the last two innings to secure the victory, led by senior Ari Castillo, who hit an RBI double as well as a two-run home run to lead the Rams to the win.
Both Castillo and Lynchard continued their dominant performances going into Game 2, in a closely-contested 3-2 win over the Bonnies. Limited to only one base runner in the first four innings by Bonnies pitcher Ally Haskins, sophomore pinch runner Aisnley Yoshizumi came in to level the score at one in the bottom of the fifth inning. Senior Sami Villarreal scored the go-ahead run soon after off of a Jessica Hennelly single. Castillo’s second home run of the day in the bottom of the sixth led Rhode Island to the doubleheader win, marking the first time the Rams had won three in a row since 2019.
On the day, Castillo was 5-for-7 at the plate, with two home runs, five RBIs and three runs scored. Lynchard had 18 total strikeouts while freshman pitcher Cameron Whiteford also contributed to the wins, pitching for five innings without giving up a run and striking out five batters to earn her second career win. Junior Rachel Zingerman also went 5-for-7 at the plate with three runs scored, in a performance that eventually won her Atlantic 10 Player of the Week.
“Overall, our team hitting in general was amazing this weekend, so I think just keeping the line moving and keeping the momentum from my teammates was all I was trying to do,” Zingerman said. “It was a big team win — it wasn’t just me.”
The Rams continued their dominance with a 3-0 shutout performance against the Bonnies on Sunday. Lynchard continued her dominant weekend, allowing only two hits as the Bonnies were unable to get a runner past second while she was in the circle. Zingerman scored the first run of the day, driven in by a Cassie Swenson single in the bottom of the first. Castillo brought junior Caitlyn O’Leary home with a single to double their lead and move sophomore Vicki Vialovsky into scoring position. Vialovsky eventually came home to score and wrapped up the series sweep for the Rams.
The fans played a huge role in what was a special weekend at the URI Softball Complex, according to Head Coach Whitney Goldstein.
“It was just something really special and you could feel the energy,” Goldstein said. “I talk about tradition, and pride and things that are important to the program and to [win] in front of the people that have laid a foundation for our program — you can’t ask for anything better.”
The Rams moved onto a tough non-conference opponent Tuesday afternoon when they took on the top team in the Big East, the UConn Huskies. The Rams rallied back from an early 5-0 deficit after two innings, but early fielding errors proved too much to overcome as they eventually fell 12-8, ending their four-game win streak.
Goldstein was proud of her team’s performance despite the loss, giving them credit for refusing to give up.
“I felt a lot of fight from our group today,” Goldstein said. “I felt a ‘we’re not gonna give up’ mentality today from them. UConn is probably going to be one of the best teams we play this year – we’re playing to win, we’re playing to fight and that’s what the program’s going to be about in the next years coming.”
The Rams return home next Tuesday for a rescheduled game against UMass with first pitch scheduled for 3 p.m. They will then face off against another non-conference opponent in a doubleheader against Holy Cross on Wednesday. First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at the URI Softball Complex.