After dealing with a multitude of scheduling changes throughout the week, the University of Rhode Island baseball team suffered a 4-0 loss to Quinnipiac University on Tuesday afternoon.
All three games Rhode Island was supposed to play against St. Bonaventure University on March 23-24 were canceled due to weather over the weekend. Then, their matchup with Quinnipiac – which was originally scheduled to be played at home – got moved to the Quinnipiac Baseball Field in Hamden, Connecticut. Head Coach Raphael Cerrato discussed the team’s mindset as they managed through all of these changes.
“We tried to look at it as a positive,” Cerrato said. “We scrimmaged Friday and got a little break over the weekend to just rest ourselves a little bit before we start conference play.”
Rhode Island were coming off back-to-back wins for the first time this season heading into Tuesday’s game, but it was the Bobcats who jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the first inning. They strung together three consecutive hits, one of which being a run-scoring single by third-year infielder CJ Willis.
From there, both sides were locked into a pitchers duel. The Rams got a combined three scoreless innings from second-year pitchers Connor Johnston and Connor Grotyohann. This was Johnston’s third appearance back from injury and his first scoreless outing since returning.
“Coming into the season, [Johnston] was one of the guys we were going to count on,” Cerrato said. “He threw the ball well today and hopefully he continues to improve and stay healthy.”
The score remained the same until the Bobcats were able to extend their lead to 4-0 with a two-run single by fourth-year third baseman Sebastian Mueller in the fifth inning and a sacrifice fly by fourth-year outfielder Keegan O’Connor in the sixth. Through the first seven innings, Quinnipiac used six different pitchers and held Rhode Island to just one hit.
“I just think that we didn’t have a particularly good approach today,” Cerrato said postgame. “We just tried to do too much and got away from having a simple approach.”
URI got two more clean innings from fifth-year pitcher Zach Fernandez and third-year pitcher Kenny Heon to keep the deficit at four heading into the ninth. The bats for Rhode Island were unable to get anything going, though, as second-year pitcher Matt Alduino came in and slammed the door with a scoreless ninth inning to cap off a 4-0 victory for the Bobcats. At the plate, Mueller led the way for Quinnipiac going 3-4 with two runs batted in.
The Rams ended up being held to only two hits in the game, both coming from bottom three hitters in their lineup, against eight different Quinnipiac pitchers. This was quite a stark difference from their previous game, when they plated 19 runs in a 19-15 win over Stonehill College on March 20.
“Today, we just didn’t have the spark that we usually have,” second-year infielder Michael Anderson said postgame. “But it happens, it’s baseball and it’s an up-and-down journey.”
Despite the loss, URI did receive some positive news when Anderson was awarded as Atlantic 10 Player of the Week for his efforts in that win against Stonehill. He set a single game program record for runs batted in with 12, which is also the most by any player in National Collegiate Athletic Association Division 1 baseball this year, and tied the program record for hits in a game with five.
“Being able to have my teammates get on base and everything is one of the biggest factors,” Anderson said. “I really wouldn’t be able to do it without them.”
Looking ahead, Rhode Island will now prepare for their first Atlantic 10 series of the year this weekend. Cerrato emphasized the importance of putting the disappointment of this one behind them as they begin a crucial part of their schedule.
“Come tomorrow, we’ll get out there, we’ll practice and I’m going to feel completely different,” Cerrato said. “We’ll be excited to start conference play and hopefully win a series.”
URI will look to quickly bounce back from this mid-week loss and get back on track as they travel to Saint Louis University on March 28-30. The series will get underway at 4 p.m. on Thursday.