Through dramatics and several snowstorms, the University of Rhode Island baseball team took one of three games against Washington State University as their steep non-conference road slate trudged on through the late winter months.
After dropping the first two games of the series, the Rams found themselves tied going into the ninth inning at 3-3 as flurries filled the air in Pullman, Washington. After one run was driven in by third-year Eric Genther, giving Rhode Island their first lead of the series 4-3, a new batter stepped up to the plate.
Third-year Brody McKenzie turned on a 3-2 fastball, sending an aluminum ping throughout the blistering wintery air. Heads at Bailey-Brayton field craned towards the outfield as the ball shot over for a left field wall for a two-run homerun. The blast marked the first homerun of McKenzie’s career and served as the final nail in the coffin in a 6-3 final for Rhody’s second win of the season.
“I’m not gonna lie… I kind of blacked out,” McKenzie said. “I thought it had a chance of going over, [then] I thought I saw it dipping down, I thought it was going to hit the wall and then it cleared… [I] didn’t really realize what happened until I rounded third and looked at my teammates and started smiling.”
During his career, McKenzie hasn’t carried the heaviest bat on his shoulders, never hitting above .200. Rather, the outfielder prides himself on defensive play. So when the ball disappeared over the outfield wall, it sent cheers throughout the dugout.
“Brody is such a team player and just has such an awesome attitude,” URI Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “He hasn’t been a regular starter every day in his career and he never complains, he always works. He is probably our best defensive outfielder. So we decided we need to get our best defensive center fielder out there… and it worked out.”
Along with the high-powered finale offensively, it was the Rhode Island bullpen that kept the Rams in the mix. Fifth-year Zach Fernandez, second-year Colin Maloney and sixth-year Tommy Hughes combined for four innings of work to close out the game. The three arms allowed just three hits and no earned runs across that stretch.
“I think we do have a good pitching staff,” Cerrato said. “So we have some good arms, like Tommy [Hughes] was a huge pickup transfer wise, Collin [Maloney] has improved a lot [and he is] pitching with a lot more confidence than he did last year. Zach [Fernandez] has been a veteran guy, he’s been in that role for years for us.”
That pitching ability, just as it would work in any dugout, wins and loses games for the Rams, according to Cerrato.
“We’ve had some problems, like some of those big games we didn’t get length from the starters and you’re going to guys earlier, you’re going to guys often so it kind of changes the situation of the game,” Cerrato said. “[In the games we lost,] it’s like one inning gets away from us.”
In those struggling games – the first two games of the weekend series – Rhode Island was blanked in a double-header on Saturday, 10-4 and 17-7. The second contest saw Rhode Island allow the second-most runs all season, behind an 18 run performance from Virginia Tech last weekend.
The one-inning agenda could not be more true for the Rams through the first two games of the series. 62% of the Cougars’ scoring occurred in just three innings during the primary contests in the series. With that, the only game in which Rhode Island did not allow an inning of more than three runs was the final game, which they won.
Looking towards this coming weekend, a ranked opponent awaits the Rams. #4 University of Texas A&M is set to host Rhody, but nothing but anticipation awaits in the locker room.
“We’re excited, it’s a top 10 opponent, we are looking forward to it,” McKenzie said. “It’s supposed to be good weather and everyone is just excited to get down there and compete, [and] hopefully win a couple games.”