The University of Rhode Island baseball team was swept in a three-game series against the University of Alabama over the weekend and remains winless, at 0-7.
URI traveled to Tuscaloosa, Ala., to take on the Crimson Tide in the second series of the season. After getting swept in a four-game series against Jacksonville University, Rhody was looking to pick up their first win of the season.
In the opening game on Friday, the Tide were rolling right away as they scored three runs in the bottom of the first inning and then followed it up with eight runs in the second.
Third-year starter Joe Sabbath only went 1.1 innings and gave up nine earned runs, nine hits and two walks. Sabbath was the closer for the Rams last year but was moved into a starter role this season.
“He just didn’t have his stuff,” URI Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “He’s still trying to figure out a routine as a starter… He’s trying to figure out what works best for him to throw his best… I expect him to have a good bullpen session and be much, much better this weekend.”
Alabama scored three more runs to take a 14-0 lead into the fifth inning. Third-year Reece Moroney hit a three-run home run to cut into the lead, but Bama responded with five runs in the bottom of the fifth. Alabama went on to run-rule URI and win the game 19-4 in just six and a half innings.
The Crimson Tide’s offense was led by a strong performance from third-year shortstop Justin Lebron. Lebron had five RBIs and two home runs in the game. Lebron is currently the number two-ranked collegiate MLB draft prospect according to MLB.com.
“He’s very talented,” Cerrato said. “He’s an impressive kid, he’s one of the most talented college players I’ve ever seen.”
On Saturday, URI wrapped up the three-game series with a doubleheader, looking to avoid getting swept for the second series in a row.
The first game was much more competitive than the game on Friday. Rhode Island held on to a 2-1 lead through three innings. However, the Crimson Tide responded with a four-run frame in the bottom of the fourth and tacked on one more in the fifth to make it 6-2.
First-year Jayden Tolentino blasted a three-run home run to cut the deficit to one for his second homer of the game and make it 6-5, but that was as close as URI would get. Alabama added a pair of insurance runs to secure an 8-5 victory.
In the second game, the Rhode Island bats were silenced. First-year Myles Upchurch had a dominant start, only giving up three hits, one walk and no runs across five innings of work.
Alabama took a 6-1 lead into the eighth inning before scoring five more runs in the bottom of the eighth to once again run-rule the Rams as the Crimson Tide picked up an 11-1 win and completed the series sweep.
“This is not how we wanted to start our season,” Cerrato said. “We felt like we should have a couple wins at this point, but we don’t, so we’ve got to keep just grinding it out every day.”
URI was supposed to play a game on Tuesday against Bryant University, but the game was canceled due to inclement weather.
The reigning Atlantic 10 Conference champions will have to wait until Friday to try and get their first win when they take on Kent State University, facing the Golden Flashes coming off a series win over No. 13-ranked University of Tennessee.
