The University of Rhode Island baseball team was swept over the weekend by St. Bonaventure University, also dropping a game on Tuesday against the University of Connecticut for a fifth-straight loss.
The Rams took a weekend trip to New York to take on the Bonnies in a three-game series with a doubleheader on Friday and the series finale on Saturday. St. Bonaventure entered the weekend at 3-12 in Atlantic 10 Conference play, and Rhode Island entered at 9-6.
In the first at-bat of game one on Friday, third-year Scott Penney blasted a solo home run to give the Rams a 1-0 lead.
The lead was short-lived as St. Bonaventure scored three runs to take a 3-1 lead. In the top of the fourth inning, second-year Ryan Thompson hit a solo home run to cut the deficit to one.
The Bonnies tacked on one more in the sixth, and then a three-run home run from fourth-year Alex Hebenstreit extended the lead to 7-2. Fourth-year Jack Hopko joined in on the solo home run party in the top of the ninth. Thompson hit his second solo shot of the game, but it wasn’t enough as St. Bonaventure picked up a 7-4 win.
In game two, the box score looked more like a football game as the teams combined for 28 runs and 28 hits. Going into the bottom of the third, Rhode Island had a 6-2 lead, but St. Bonaventure put up five to reclaim the lead 7-6.
URI responded with a four-run top of the fifth to make it 10-7, but St. Bonaventure one-upped them in the bottom of the inning, scoring another five runs. The Bonnies went on to win 15-13 to sweep the doubleheader.
“There definitely is a chip on people’s shoulders when they come to play us,” Hopko said. “That comes with winning [an A-10 championship] last year. We definitely still have the talent to do it again this year.”
The Bonnies were very vocal from their dugout and were able to get in the heads of some Rhode Island players.
“They were doing a lot of talking and chirping in the dugout,” URI head coach Raphael Cerrato said. “I think some of our guys got a little too wrapped up in that instead of just focusing on what’s in our control,”
Whatever the Bonnies were saying, it seemed to be working, as the defending A-10 Champions had already lost the series.
“I think we underestimated what they had to bring to the table,” Hopko said. “They were a pretty chirpy team, but that’s what happens when you’re losing ballgames; they can talk all they want.”
On Saturday in the series finale, Rhode Island was looking to avoid getting swept by the Bonnies. URI was down one in the top of the ninth with the bases loaded and one out. However, they weren’t able to advance the game-tying run and fell by a score of 5-4.
“A terrible weekend overall,” Cerrato said. “We just didn’t play as well as we should’ve, and it put us in a tough position for the last four weekends of the year.”
Rhody looked to get back in the win column on Tuesday night in Hartford, Conn., as they took on the University of Connecticut. The Rams were able to take a 1-0 lead at the top of the first thanks to a Hopko double that scored Thompson.
However, the next eight runs were scored by the Huskies, and Rhode Island finished the game with only five hits as the Rams dropped their fifth consecutive game 9-5.
“We know it’s there,” Cerrato said. “Talent-wise, we’re as good as anyone in the league, and I think we can compete for a championship, but we have to show that.”
Rhode Island will head to Saint Louis University for a crucial three-game series against the Billikens. With only 12 A-10 games remaining in the schedule, URI sits at 9-9 in conference play; every game the rest of the way is critical for the Rams to try to repeat as A-10 Champions.
