The University of Rhode Island baseball team’s early-season struggles continued, as the Rams were swept by Kent State University in a three-game road series this past weekend to stay winless on the season.
“We just didn’t get the big hit,” URI Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “Some guys started swinging the bat well. We had a few good pitching performances, which is something to be happy about.”
The team’s Friday starter, third-year Joe Sabbath, gave URI 6.1 innings of work. He allowed four runs on five hits through the first six innings before running into some trouble with one out in the seventh inning after his 10th strikeout.
Sabbath, in his first season in a starting role after two years in the bullpen, was very encouraged with his effort in Ohio. The 10 strikeouts marked a new career-high in a single outing for the flamethrower out of New Jersey.
“I just got a really good bullpen in the week before,” Sabbath said. “I kind of fixed my slider up, so I was getting a lot more swing-and-miss. It was kind of popping and coming out too slow, so I shifted my fingers more towards the center of the ball. It was actually a bit harder; it looked more like a fastball.”
The Golden Flashes loaded the bases with three straight singles in the seventh before Cerrato pulled Sabbath for second-year reliever Manny Santos.
Santos allowed four runs to come around and score on a walk and a bases-clearing double. Three of the runs were charged to Sabbath’s line.
Kent State’s big seventh inning knotted the game at seven apiece. It would stay that way for six more innings thanks to a gusty performance from third-year Rhode Island closer Tommy Turner.
He delivered five innings of one-hit ball, striking out six, before giving up a walkoff home run in the bottom of the 13th.
“Tommy, I think, is really talented,” Cerrato said. “I thought he looked great, threw the ball well. Even the home run he gave up was just kind of a decent fly ball that the wind took out.”
Rhode Island was unable to steal game one despite its season highs in both hits and runs, with 19 and seven, respectively. The road through Kent didn’t get any easier after that. The Rams dropped both games of Saturday’s doubleheader to fall to 0-10 on the season.
The Rams dropped the first game of the dual feature by a final score of 7-1. Their lone run came around to score when third-year Aidan Botti scampered home on a groundout from fourth-year Jack Hopko.
The nation’s leader in RBIs during the regular season last year, Hopko has yet to round into form for a URI squad desperately in need of his bat. The New York native has just three hits in 33 at-bats this season. None of his hits have gone for extra bases.
Game two on Saturday wasn’t much better for the visitors. The Rams’ only runs of the afternoon came via a three-run home run off the bat of first-year catcher Jayden Tolentino.
The Cranston product has been one of the few bright spots in the Rhode Island batting order. He leads the squad with three home runs and nine RBIs, the only Ram with multiple homers this season.
Up next, the Rams head north on I-95 to face in-state rival Brown University for their first series against a fellow Northeast program. Barring any more schedule changes, games currently are set to take place on Saturday and Sunday in Providence and will be streaming on ESPN+.
