The University of Rhode Island baseball team won another hard-fought series over the weekend against the University of Richmond, following it up by avenging an earlier loss against Quinnipiac University on Wednesday.
For the second weekend in a row, the Rams played a doubleheader on Friday due to weather. The similarities didn’t end there; once again, the Rams dropped the series opener before picking up a dominant win in the nightcap. In the rubber match, URI secured a comeback victory for its third Atlantic 10 Conference series win of the season.
“There’s definitely no quit with this team,” Rhode Island Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “With our offense, we know we’re never out of a game. There’s definitely some toughness, some grit, which is good.”
Friday’s first half of the doubleheader was knotted 5-5 after a four-run third inning for URI. Richmond called on third-year righty Ryan Bilka, who was a Midseason Second Team All-American. He lived up to expectations, delivering 5.1 innings of three-hit baseball alongside six strikeouts on the way to a 10-5 win.
“He’s easily their best pitcher, and he just shut us down,” Cerrato said. “Tip your cap. He just threw the ball really, really well. He’s honestly the best arm we’ve seen in conference so far.”
Rhode Island flipped the script in game two, blowing out the Spiders in a 20-1 victory. Fifth-year Trystan Levesque carried a no-hitter into the sixth inning, but was upstaged by the Rams offense that delivered two seven-run frames.
Rhody’s bottom of the order was a big contributor to the offensive explosion, reaching base eight times and coming around to score each time.
“We have a deep lineup, and we’re having guys that are batting seventh, eighth and ninth that are successful and dangerous,” Cerrato said. “That’s the biggest difference in the offense this year than the past few years.”
The man who drove in the majority of those runs was fourth-year third baseman Anthony DePino. He drove in six runs in a 5-5 day at the plate, while hitting for the cycle in a historic performance that gave him A-10 Player of the Week honors.
“Without the guys at the bottom of the lineup like Brody McKenzie flipping the lineup over, I don’t get those at-bats with runners in scoring position,” DePino said. “Those RBIs and those runs come from my teammates, and it’s definitely a reflection of what the team does.”
DePino was missing a homer to complete the cycle when he stepped up to the plate in the seventh inning as Rhode Island led 14-1.
“I just told myself, ‘Well, we need a home run for the cycle,’ so I’m going up there and swinging for it,” DePino said. “It was either that or I’m striking out.”
Cerrato credited DePino’s development as a hitter, noting the improvements he made last year to become a more complete hitter. He’s continued his upward trajectory this season and was recently named to Perfect Game’s Midseason All-American Third Team.
“He took a big, big step in the middle of last year of becoming a complete hitter,” Cerrato said. “He’s just taking his walks, using the whole field, hitting for average and hitting for power.”
After a rainy Saturday, the series finished up on Sunday with a 12-9 comeback victory for the Rams. Five runs in the eighth gave URI its first lead of the game, and second-year closer Joe Sabbath held the lead in the ninth.
“It was one of our best wins of the year,” Cerrato said. “It was a huge win, to come back and show no quit at all. I was super proud of the guys.”
Once again, DePino delivered, clearing the loaded bases to give Rhode Island a one-run lead. First-year Ryan Thompson picked up the rest of the runs with a two-run single.
URI moved to its midweek matchup with Quinnipiac, looking to split the season series after suffering a 9-8 loss to the Bobcats on March 25. Building up a 9-0 lead through four innings, the Rams held on for a less-than-pretty 11-7 win.
Six players drove in runs while seven pitchers combined to take home the victory. A defensively sloppy eighth inning saw two errors committed by URI, as four runs came across to put the Bobcats within reach before a scoreless ninth.
St. Bonaventure University is up next for Rhode Island; the Bonnies sit last in the conference with a 2-10 record.
“No matter what their record is, they’re never an easy team to play,” Cerrato said. “They always have scrappy, tough, hard-nosed kids. We absolutely cannot take them lightly.”
The three-game series opens on Friday at 3 p.m. on ESPN+ from Bill Beck Field. Sunday’s game at noon will have a radio broadcast available on RIU2.org.
