Addison Kopack (right) and Billy Butler (left) celebrate after a series-deciding 15-4 win against Mercer. PHOTO CREDIT: gorhody.com
The University of Rhode Island baseball team won their first series of the young season over the weekend, traveling to Macon, Georgia to face Mercer University.
The team walked away with two wins in their three-game series on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
The team improved their record to 3-3 with these wins. First-year first baseman Michael Anderson would be named Atlantic 10 rookie of the week for the second week in a row after this series. In three games, he had six runs, six hits and six runs batted in (RBI’s).
“He’s got player of the week both weeks, which is pretty impressive for a freshman,” said URI head coach Rafael Cerrato. “It’s funny because he missed fall with a surgery on his hand. So he didn’t even basically play the entire fall, and Mike was a big recruit coming in. We knew he was very good, but we didn’t see him the entire fall.”
On Friday, the Rams played in game one of the series against Mercer. Mercer got the scoring started early, putting up three runs in the first inning. Rhode Island’s Anderson responded in the second inning by hitting a homerun to left center scoring third year Alex Ramirez.
After the Rams made the game close, Mercer went and put up two of their own runs in the second inning. During the fifth inning, Mercer went on to put up three more runs. The game then entered the seventh inning, in which the Rams scored two runs when fourth-year Mark Coley hit an RBI double into left field, which scored Anderson. Mercer would also go on to put up one more run in the seventh inning.
Entering the ninth inning, the Rams were trailing 4-9. Coley hit a homerun to right center field, followed by fourth-year Billy Butler hitting a two run home run into right field on which third-year Addison Kopack scored. The Rams ultimately wouldn’t have enough offense, as they were only able to add three more runs in the ninth inning.
The Rams only faced two pitchers this game as the Mercer starter, Josh Harlow, went six innings and only allowed two runs. As for the Rams pitching, third-year Sean Sposato got the loss on the mound for the Rams, only pitching 4.1 innings and allowing eight hits, eight runs, seven earned runs, two walks and three strikeouts. Two relief pitchers would go into this game, fourth-year Bo Brutti and second-year Ryan Andrade. This wouldn’t be enough, as the Rams dropped game one to Mercer in a 7-9 finish.
“Coach believed we could’ve won that and I do too,” third-year starting pitcher Trystan Levesque said. “So it really gave us a good mental headspace to be like alright, now let’s go win game two. Game two we had me on the mound and I knew I had a good defense behind me. I knew I had to do my job.”
On Saturday, the Rams came prepared for game two of the series. Mercer once again got the scoring started early in the bottom of the first inning on a single. The Rams remained scoreless up until the fourth inning, when Ramirez was walked and Kopack scored as a result of the bases being loaded.
Then, Anderson singled to right field, and Billy Butler scored during the fourth inning as well. The Rams then continued striking in the seventh inning as they put up another five runs. First-year Jack Hopko got the scoring started this inning, with a home run into left field. Kopack then lined an RBI single to center field, scoring Coley. Then, second-year Anthony Depino had an RBI single to second base. Ramirez then had a two run home run, which also scored Depino who was still one first base. Mercer would go on to put up one run in the seventh inning and two in the eighth inning, however this wouldn’t be enough for Mercer, as the Rams would win 7-4.
The Rams would face four pitchers this game, having put up two runs on three out of the four pitchers faced. As for the Rams pitching, they would have third-year Trystan Levesque start and put up four hits, one run, one earned run and six strikeouts in five innings of work. First-year Jeremy Urena, Brutti, third-year Broc French and graduate student Jon Morrison would go on in relief pitching one inning each, with Morrison collecting the save.
On Sunday, the Rams faced off against Mercer in game three of this three-game series. Unlike the previous games, the Rams were the first to strike in this game. Kopack would hit a two-run home run in the first, scoring himself and Genther in the first inning.
In the second inning, Anderson would hit a home run to center field to increase the Rams lead to 3-0. In the third inning, the Rams would go on to put up seven runs. The first run scored during this long inning would be by Kopack off of Billy Butler’s RBI double that dropped in a gap in left field. Depino then doubled to left field, scoring Billy Butler.
Ramirez hit a pop fly out to right field and on a routine tag up, Depino was able to score after an arid throw from the right fielder sailed away from the first baseman. Hopko hit an RBI single to left field and Anderson scored. With the bases loaded, Kopack would be hit by a pitch, scoring a run in the process as Hopko then crossed the plate, advancing one base. Billy Butler would then have an RBI single to center field, in which Coley scored.
In the fourth inning of play, the Rams put up two more runs after Anderson blasted a two-run home run to left center field, which scored himself and Ramirez. In the fifth inning, Mercer put up two runs in response to URI. However, in the sixth inning, URI responded again as Coley crushed a three-run home run, scoring Anderson and Ramirez. During the sixth and seventh innings, Mercer would add two more runs to their total, making the game 15-4, which is how the game would eventually finish.
The Rams once again would face four pitchers, and this time three of the four pitchers had at least three runs. As for the Rams pitching, first-year Braeden Perry would start and allow five hits, two runs, two earned runs, one walk and six strikeouts in five innings of work. First-year Colin Maloney and third-year Quincy Clark would pitch one inning in relief.
Next up, the Rams will prepare to face Virginia University in a four-game series in Charlottesville, Virginia next weekend. Game one was scheduled for Friday at 3 p.m, but was canceled due to inclement weather. The rest of the series will go on as scheduled, with game two at 12 p.m. on Saturday, game three at 3:30 p.m. on Saturday and game four on Sunday at 1 p.m. on ACC Network.