On Tuesday, the University of Rhode Island baseball team bounced back with a victory over the University of Connecticut after losing their weekend series with Northeastern University.
The Rams traveled to Boston on Friday for game one of the weekend, where Northeastern trampled them 15-4.
Rhode Island took an early lead after a solo home run from second-year Michael Anderson in the top of the first, but the Huskies’ firepower quickly overwhelmed them.
URI was outhit 18-9, and its pitching staff walked nine batters. Northeastern fifth-year Alex Lane, second-year Jack Goodman and fourth-year Gregory Bozzo all contributed homers to the base-path parade.
The remainder of the series was played in Kingston in a Saturday doubleheader. Rhode Island struck back in game two with a 7-1 victory to snap their four-game slide.
First-year Evan Maloney was the hero on the mound for the Rams. He silenced Northeastern’s loud bats and allowed only one earned run through seven pitched innings.
The Rhode Island native played high school baseball just 20 minutes down the road at North Kingstown High School, where he was a two-time Division One state champion. Maloney was able to notch the first win of his college career in front of a crowd of friends and family.
“I think I had over 20 family members here, which was pretty awesome,” Maloney said. “It was pretty great seeing everyone come out and support the team.”
Maloney sat down six of his 27 batters faced with strikeouts. Batters only reached base six times during Maloney’s outing, giving up four hits, a walk and hitting a batter with a pitch.
Rhode Island’s offense came to life after struggling in Friday’s game, scoring in each of the first four innings. In the bottom of the first inning, a fielder’s choice at third base allowed first-year Scott Penney to sneak over home plate from third base and take an early 1-0 lead for Rhode Island.
The Rams led off the second with back-to-back singles from second-year Jack Hopko and second-year Nicholas Toro. A pair of sacrifice bunts by first-year Will Hindle and third-year Brody Mckenzie led to URI’s second run of the game. A wild pitch punched Toro’s first-class ticket to home plate, giving URI a 3-0 lead through two frames.
Toro and Genther’s RBI singles in the third and fourth innings gave Rhode Island a commanding 5-0 lead.
URI continued to pour it on Northeastern in the seventh inning when third-year Anthony Depino blasted his third home run of the season to right field. Following the home run, Hindle returned to the plate and shot a single up the middle. First-year Reece Moroney rounded third and legged out another run for the Rams, making it a 7-1 ball game at the bottom of the seventh.
Maloney was relieved by fifth-year Kenny Heon in the eighth inning. Heon continued to stifle the Northeastern bats, allowing no runs in two innings pitched to help Rhode Island secure the game two victory.
The rubber game of the series was a back-and-forth affair, with both teams trading blows like heavyweight boxers throughout.
The Rams outpaced the Huskies’ offense throughout the game, scoring nine runs through the first six innings on the back of two home runs from Depino.
Rhody could not fully shut the door on Northeastern, as second-year Harrison Feinberg kept the ballgame alive in the seventh with a towering three-run home run to center field to tie up the score at 9-9. In the eighth inning, RBI singles from Goodman and Bosland gave Northeastern their first lead since game one of the series, making it 11-9.
After walking Penney in the bottom of the eighth, the Husky bullpen struck out six straight Rhode Island batters to secure the win and the series victory for Northeastern.
“We had a chance to win the series,” URI Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “We couldn’t hold a lead.”
Rhode Island continued their homestand following the loss, welcoming an experienced UConn team to Bill Beck Field.
The game was stuck in a stalemate early on. UConn fifth-year pitcher Joe Cinnella struck out four batters through the first three innings, while the URI defense turned two double plays in that time to keep the game locked at 0-0.
UConn was first to strike in the top of the fourth inning. Fifth-year Paul Tammaro led off the inning by getting hit by a pitch and advancing to second base on a bunt single from fourth-year Korey Morton. Fifth-year Luke Broadhurst laid a sacrifice bunt down the third base line to set up runners on second and third with one out. Taking advantage of the situation, fifth-year Matt Malcolm grounded out to second base, scoring Tamaro on the fielders’ choice, giving UConn a 1-0 lead.
A fired-up Anderson approached the plate to lead off the bottom of the second. With a 1-0 count, he slapped an outside fastball to right field, hooking around the foul pole for a home run to tie the game at 1-1.
Following the homer, fifth-year DJ Perron placed a single in right field and then swiped second base on a passed ball. After a walk from Depino, Hopko moved Perron to third with a sacrifice bunt. Toro came to bat with two runners in scoring position and flew out deep to center field. UConn, unable to complete the relay, allowed URI to take a 2-1 lead on the tag-up from Perron.
Another surge from the top of the URI lineup in the sixth followed a quiet fifth inning for both teams. Anderson started things off when he got on base again after working a walk. Depino returned to the box after Perron was frozen on a curveball that curled into the strike zone like a frisbee.
Depino turned on a first-pitch fastball and blasted it over the left-field fence for his fourth home run in four games, extending Rhody’s lead to 4-1.
Depino credited his success at the plate this week to the team’s philosophy on timing.
“Our big thing right now is being on time with every pitch,” Depino said. “It’s something Coach Heiss preaches to us every practice, after every game. Just be on time, and good things will happen from there.”
UConn was unable to rally back, as the URI bullpen allowed no hits in the final three innings. Second-year Jeremy Urena led back-to-back three-and-out innings on the mound before third-year Kenny Heon came in to close the game in the ninth. Heon walked his first batter, then struck out the next three, in order to earn himself a save and the upset victory for Rhode Island.
“UConn is always one of the best teams in the Northeast, a rival for us,” Cerrato said. “To come out and pitch well, I think that’s what we needed to do.”
After a 19-15 victory over Stonehill College on Wednesday, URI will take on St. Bonaventure University in a three-game series at home this weekend.