The University of Rhode Island baseball team secured a crucial weekend sweep against the University of Dayton before beating Brown University on Wednesday for a fifth straight win.
“We have a lot of confidence right now,” Rhode Island Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “Winning breeds confidence, and the more confident you are, the better baseball player you’re going to be.”
Friday brought the fireworks to open the series, with URI taking the lead in the eighth inning to secure an 11-10 win.
After Dayton scored in the first, the Rams took the lead on a two-run homer from fourth-year Eric Genther in the bottom half. Two batters later, third-year Jack Hopko delivered a solo shot of his own.
The Rams wrapped up the first inning with fifth-year Nic Notarangelo hitting an RBI double to the left-center gap in his first at-bat since suffering a broken wrist on March 9.
“He got cleared on Friday morning, and I wasn’t even sure if we were going to start him,” Cerrato said. “He’s a big-time competitor, and he’s been itching to get back out there.”
Four unanswered runs gave Dayton a 6-5 lead, but Rhode Island responded with a four-run fifth to build a three-run cushion. However, first-year standout Rylan Lujo tied the game for the Flyers with a single in the eighth.
Second-year Scott Penney responded to give Rhody the lead as he picked up a two-run single in the eighth.
The Flyers had second-year Martin Howell as the tying run on third base with one away in the ninth; a fly ball to shallow right field left a risky chance to try to tag up. Howell took the chance, and Genther got the ball to home with plenty of time to nab the runner for a double play to end it.
“I didn’t [expect him to tag up],” Genther said. “I was just going to throw it as hard as I could, and then I saw him keep running, and the throw looked good, so at that point I was like, ‘Wow, this might actually win a game.’”
On Saturday, Rhode Island took an 8-4 win, with the difference being the team’s starting pitchers. Dayton’s third-year J.J. Gatti was ousted from the game after allowing seven runs in four innings. URI’s fifth-year Trystan Levesque was able to work through seven innings, allowing two runs. Levesque crossed over 100 pitches for the second time this season, finishing with 109 after an eight-pitch seventh.
“I wanted that [seventh] inning; I wanted to put up another zero for the team,” Levesque said. “I’m always communicating with the coaches; they trust me, and I trust in myself.”
Rhody’s offense was fueled by sixth-year DJ Perron’s three-run homer in the first and Jack Hopko’s second home run of the series in the next inning.
First-year Jake Cullen bounced back from a couple of rough starts on Sunday, delivering seven innings of one-run baseball, which earned him Atlantic 10 Conference Rookie of the Week.
“The wind was blowing in, and as a pitcher, you just attack,” Cerrato said. “We did an awesome job of just playing to the conditions.”
In an 8-1 win, URI produced a five-run second inning and never looked back. Four walks and a hit batter helped the Rams score the runs with just two hits in the frame.
With the sweep, Rhode Island sits alone in first place in the A-10 for the first time this season after entering the weekend in a five-way tie for the top.
“It doesn’t mean a lot to us right now,” Cerrato said. “[The one seed] is kind of in our hands, so that’s great, but there’s so much left that I’m not getting too concerned with that.”
For the second week in a row, Rhode Island dominated Brown on Wednesday. Six runs in the third and four in the fifth led the way to a 12-4 win. The Bears’ pitching staff struggled with control all game, walking eight batters and plunking just as many.
With 12 games to go in conference play, the Rams are in position to receive the only first-round bye of the conference tournament.
“You get an extra day to set up your rotation; you get an opportunity to throw your No. 1 against their No. 2,” Cerrato said. “Getting a bye is big.”
In the team’s first trip outside of New England since mid-March, the Rams head to second-place George Mason University for a weekend series. All three games will be broadcast on ESPN+, with Friday’s first pitch set for 2 p.m.
