The University of Rhode Island baseball team’s fourth-year right fielder Eric Genther surpassed 200 career hits against the University of Massachusetts on March 28 with a five-RBI, three-hit day.
It was one of the many strong days he’s had at the plate this season, playing an important role for the offense as a table-setter in the two-hole.
“Having that guy at the top of the order who puts the ball in play, doesn’t strike out, hits home runs, [is] clutch, he’s been really good,” Rhode Island Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said.
Alongside fellow fourth-year Anthony DePino, Genther was named to the Atlantic 10 Conference All-Rookie team after the 2022 season. Now, both are playing key roles in the hopes of leading a strong senior group to a conference championship.
“We all kind of realize that this is it,” Genther said. “It feels like we really have a group with the potential to do it. Pairing that with the fact that this is our last shot, we’re going all out for it and just bringing energy every day with that goal in mind.”
Back-to-back home runs on Friday for DePino and Genther against the University of Richmond showcased the one-two punch that teams deal with when facing the Rams. Even when it’s not the long ball, the duo has found other ways to produce.
“DePino walks to lead off almost every game; teams just don’t want to face him,” Cerrato said. “So Eric has been coming up and getting a lot of hits with Anthony on base.”
Genther is the only Ram that has started every game this season. With over 180 games played in his career, he is on pace to surpass 200 appearances by the end of the season.
“From an individual standpoint, you never really know how many games you have left at this point,” Genther said. “Just enjoying every opportunity you have with our group of guys is one of the main things that, as a senior group, we’ve really tried to adopt that mentality.”
2025 has been his best season so far; his average sits at .338, leaving his career average above .300. His strikeouts are down, his walks are up and he has drilled six home runs this season faster than he ever has in his four years.
He is one of two qualified hitters for Rhode Island with an on-base plus slugging percentage above 1.000. Cerrato sees Genther as an A-10 All-Conference First Team level player this season.
“He’s had a really good career and been consistently good, but there was always another level to him,” Cerrato said. “He’s really in a good spot right now; swinging the bat great, confident and the team is confident in him.”
In 2024, Genther was struggling to keep his batting average above .200 for most of the season. 10 hits in four games late in the season helped him finish the year with a .278 average. It also provided a preview of the multi-hit games that have become common for Genther this year.
“I haven’t necessarily had that, especially last year,” Genther said. “It was a lot of 1-4 or 1-5, with hits later in games.”
Genther has recorded hits in 23 games this year, with multiple hits in 14 of those games. In a seven-game hitting streak from March 7-14, he delivered 15 hits.
“It’s definitely huge to get a hit early in the game,” Genther said. “Getting one out of the way early, I feel like, for me, it just really frees me up for the rest of the day.”
Rhode Island will return to the diamond over the weekend against St. Bonaventure University. 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.
