The University of Rhode Island baseball team took a weekend trip to Eugene, Oregon to face off against No. 11 University of Oregon over the weekend, where URI pulled off an upset win in the first game, but would end up losing the next three games.
After a game against Merrimack College was postponed, the Rams were back in action for the first time since their historic 36-22 win over the College of William & Mary. In the series opener on Friday night, URI found itself trailing 2-1 after five innings, but exploded for seven runs in the top of the sixth inning to take the lead. Sixth-year DJ Perron and first-year Adonis Medina both had three-run home runs in the inning.
In the seventh, Perron and fifth-year Rob Butler both singled to help Rhody extend the lead to 12-4. Oregon would prevent the Rams from adding any more runs as it chipped away at the deficit, scoring three runs in the bottom of the seventh and two in the eighth. In the ninth, a double by Oregon fourth-year Jacob Walsh drove in two runs to make it a 12-11 game. Second-year Joe Sabbath was able to escape a bases-loaded one-out nightmare with a strikeout and a flyout to end the game and give URI its first road win over a top-25 opponent since 2020.
“Playing those tight games early in the year, especially with a lot of younger guys on the mound, is a good experience,” URI Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “Credit to Joe, he was great and did enough to get the win, that’s all that matters.”
URI had an opportunity to win the series on Saturday by sweeping the doubleheader. In game one, fifth-year southpaw Trystan Levesque took the mound and put on a historic performance. Levesque would make the Ducks lay an egg for 10 straight innings, and at one point, retired 17 hitters in a row. His final stat line was 10 innings pitched, nine strikeouts, three hits, two walks, zero earned runs and 119 pitches thrown.
“When it got to the ninth inning, [Cerrato] tried to tell everybody in the dugout to pick me up and give me props,” Levesque said. “I gave him a look like ‘you’re not taking me out, and my pitching coach said we’ll talk about it. [Cerrato] asked if I got this and I said, ‘Yeah, I do. I want another inning.’ I was able to close it out, which was awesome.”
Despite Levesque’s impressive outing, the Rams couldn’t put a run on the board after combining for 48 runs in their previous two games. They ended up losing 1-0 in 11 innings after an unearned run scored off an errant throw to first base.
Levesque’s performance would earn him Atlantic 10 Pitcher of the Week, Perfect Game Pitcher of the Week and URI Student-Athlete of the Week.
“It was one of the best pitching performances by a Rhode Island pitcher ever,” Cerrato said. “I think last year we might’ve gone over 100 pitches twice by a pitcher over the entire season, so to do that [in the] second week, I don’t like it at all, but he’s a different kid.”
In the second game of the doubleheader, Rhody jumped out to an early 5-3 lead, but the Ducks would storm back. After scoring eight runs in the bottom of the fourth to take an 11-8 lead, Oregon added on eight runs throughout the rest of the game to earn a 19-11 win and pick up a doubleheader sweep.
The series finale featured a three-hour rain delay in a game where Oregon poured it onto Rhode Island, putting up 15 runs. URI only scored two runs on four hits, and the game was called due to the run rule after seven innings.
“You look at Rhode Island vs. Oregon on paper,” Cerrato said. “With the resources that the programs have, they should kill us every game. In terms of money, scholarships, facilities and all the analytical stuff, we should not be able to compete with them when you think of it that way.”
Rhode Island was scheduled to play Boston College on Tuesday, but the game was canceled due to unplayable conditions at Bill Beck Field. The Rams will be back on the diamond on Friday, when they open up a four-game road series against the University of New Mexico. All four games will stream on the Mountain West Network.
