In one of the most successful weeks of the season, the University of Rhode Island baseball team first captured a weekend series against the University of Massachusetts, before topping Brown University and Quinnipiac University in midweek contests.
After being swept to open up Atlantic 10 play in a three game series against Saint Louis University the weekend prior, the triad clash with the Minutemen proved to be even more important to Rhody’s playoff hopes, although the calendar was still set in April.
The crawl back was heavily impacted by the opening mound showcase from second-year Evan Maloney. Allowing only three hits with no earned runs through eight innings, Maloney helped the Rams in their 6-1 win to start the weekend.
“[Maloney] was excellent, especially on a Friday, you definitely want your starter to give you six [to] seven innings,” Cerrato said. “If you [have] to go to your bullpen on the Friday of a three game series early, it just sets you up for a tough weekend.”
Maloney also had help from the batter’s box in the contest. Second-year Jack Hopko blasted a two-run home run to right field in the fifth, accounting for two of his three runs batted in throughout the contest.
However, the Rams’ offense faltered in the second game of the weekend, and resulted in a 4-2 loss to even up the series. Despite Rhode Island jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning, the Rams were unable to cross the plate through the remainder of the game. UMass tied the game in the third, and finally took the lead with a solo home run in the eighth inning.
Fast-forwarding to the rubber match on the following day, and Rhode Island was very aware of the circumstances surrounding the contest.
“We say this a lot as the season goes on but this was by far the most important game of the season, we needed to win this series,” Cerrato said. “[If] we go 1-5 to start conference play…That’s a tough hole to dig yourself out of.”
In a back and forth affair, it was UMass striking first in the third, taking a 1-0 lead. However, Rhode Island swiftly responded in the fourth with three runs of their own. UMass responded quickly, able to tie the contest in the following inning. That brought up second-year Will Hindle in the seventh inning with the bases loaded.
“A new pitcher came in in the seventh and we had a scouting report, we had a little hitters meeting and we were all talking about what the game plan is for the at-bat,” Hindle said. “I knew what I was going to do, I was going to go up there and I was going to sit [on] one pitch and I chose slider.”
After Hindle sat the first pitch, he drove the second into left field, driving two runs, and giving Rhode Island a 5-3 lead. The final two innings came and went with no score, giving Rhode Island their first A-10 series win of the season. Hindle recorded a hit in every game throughout the series and recorded three RBIs on the weekend.
“Every game is important… especially in the conference,” Hindle said. “We got the first game, got the momentum running. Tough game in the second, but we knew what we needed to do in the third today to come back and win it. We tried to do the best we could and we did just enough”.
Following the series, the Rams still had two games left to play in the middle of the week.
They first had to travel up to Providence to take on their in-state rival Brown, where a productive afternoon from second-year Connor Johnston laid the base down for Rhode Island’s offense to build off of to cruise to a 5-2 victory.
Johnston threw five innings, striking out seven and allowing no runs. On the other hand, Rhode Island’s offense thrived from third-year Anthony DePino, who hit a home run in the fourth, and first-year Scott Penney, who hit a two-run single in the seventh to provide the Rams with a few insurance runs.
The second mid-week match up proved itself as a classic scoring frenzy. The 14-13 win over Quinnipiac was solidified by the save from fifth-year Zach Fernandez. The three hour and 45 minute matchup also saw heavy scoring in the middle innings, with 18 of the total 27 runs coming from the fourth, fifth and sixth innings.
The key offensive player for Rhode Island was DePino, who went 2-5 with four RBIs and a home run.
The Rams are back in action this weekend when they host Saint Joseph’s University in an A-10 series. First pitch is set for 3 p.m. on Friday at Bill Beck Field, the game can be streamed on ESPN+.