The University of Rhode Island baseball team traveled down to Blacksburg, Virginia over the weekend to face Virginia Tech, ultimately getting outscored 39-7 and swept in three games.
On Friday, the Rams jumped out to their lone lead of the series in the first inning after a run-scoring single from third-year infielder Anthony DePino. Virginia Tech responded right away with six runs in the bottom half of the inning capped off by a two-run home run from second-year catcher Henry Cooke.
Rhode Island got two of the runs back right away in the top of the second on a two-run single by fifth-year infielder DJ Perron, but the Rams’ bats were silenced from there. Virginia Tech ran away with game one, scoring 12 unanswered runs on their way to an 18-3 victory. Fifth-year outfielder Ben Watson led the Hokies offense as he went 4-6 with seven runs batted in and coming just a single shy of the cycle.
The tough times continued for the Rams from the start on Saturday when fourth-year pitcher Trystan Levesque was removed after one inning due to injury, turning it over to third-year Brandon Hsu. Despite the early move for the second straight day, the bullpen for the Rams kept them in this game according to Head Coach Raphael Cerrato.
“It’s tough in the first two games against an Atlantic Coast Conference team when you’re going to your bullpen in the second inning,” Cerrato said. “But, game two I thought was actually a great game, really competitive.”
After Virginia Tech took a 3-1 lead in the bottom of the second, Perron launched a solo shot in the top of the third to cut it to 3-2. Perron, who is in his first year with the team after transferring from the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth, was one of the bright spots of the weekend for the Rams, going 4-13 with three RBIs. Perron spoke about the feelings of being able to make this kind of impact early in the season with his new team.
“It makes me feel like I’m at home,” Perron said. “Ultimately, I have to hand it to my coaches and teammates for always being behind me and supporting me.”
Another bright spot for Rhode Island was first-year pitcher AJ Jones, who held the Hokies offense in check, going 2.2 scoreless innings out of the bullpen. This was the second straight scoreless appearance to start the year for Jones as he struck out the side in his lone inning of work against the University of Texas Rio Grande Valley on Feb. 19.
“[Jones is] coming from a small high school in Rhode Island and he’s going out there and facing a good ACC program in front of 4,000 people, he doesn’t care,” Cerrato said. “He is just like ‘let’s go’ and you love that.”
The game remained 3-2 until Virginia Tech extended their lead to five with a trio of home runs in the seventh and eighth innings. The bullpen for Virginia Tech, who combined for 8.1 scoreless innings in the first two games of the series, held this lead and solidified a 7-2 game two victory. Rhode Island had their chances in the latter stages of this game, but were unable to capitalize, leaving eight men on base in the final six innings.
Game three on Sunday remained tied at 0-0 through the first two innings with the starter for the Rams, second-year Connor Grotyohann, allowing just one baserunner in the opening two frames.
The Hokies’ bats came alive in the bottom of the third to take a 4-0 lead on a run-scoring triple by third-year infielder Carson DeMartini and a three-run home run by second-year infielder Garrett Michel, his second long ball of the series. From here, this would become a very similar story to the opening game of the series.
Virginia Tech blew the game wide open with a nine-run fifth inning to extend their lead all the way to 13-0. On the mound, second-year pitcher Griffin Stieg shut down the Rams as he threw five scoreless innings, allowing just two hits and striking out seven.
“The mistakes you make against the teams of the caliber we play now, you’ll get hurt,” Cerrato said. “We have to limit big innings, I feel like every inning instead of being one run it’s four.”
Both of the runs for Rhode Island came in the seventh inning on a couple of run-scoring doubles by third-year outfielder Eric Genther, part of a 2-3 day at the plate for him, and third-year infielder Brody Levin. Virginia Tech cruised to a 14-2 victory from here to complete the sweep.
In a weekend where the Rams will search for silver linings, one thing to take away from Sunday is their final three relievers, fifth-year Tommy Hughes, first-year Josh Kopetski and second-year Colin Maloney, combined for three scoreless innings with four strikeouts.
The Rams dropped to 1-5 following this series, but feel that their mindset stays the same as they look ahead to try to snap their five-game losing streak.
“We never let our energy or mindset lower because of the outcome,” Perron said. “The preparation is just to get better every week, keep working hard and good things will happen.”
Next up, Rhode Island will stay on the road and travel cross-country to take on Washington State University for a four-game series. The games will be at 7 p.m. on Friday, a doubleheader starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday and 4 p.m. on Sunday. The games will be streamed on the Washington State team website.