URI men's baseball drops two of three games to La Salle in A-10 Conference

By: Kayla Panu

Posted: 4/29/08

04/29/08 - The University of Rhode Island men's baseball team dropped two games at La Salle University last weekend in an Atlantic 10 conference three-game series.

"We really didn't play good," head coach Jim Foster said. "We went into La Salle with an 11-game winning streak and our bats shut down. Their approach at the plate was very undisciplined. The guys lost their focus."

On Friday, the Rams lost 7-4 to end their 11-game winning streak. Senior right-handed starter Brett Palanski took the loss pitching six and a third innings. He gave up seven runs, six earned, on eight hits and struck out five people.

The Rams had a messy bottom of the second inning letting the Explorers take a 1-0 lead, with a batter getting hit with a pitch and an error. La Salle added on to its lead in the fourth scoring four more runs to take the 5-0 lead.

URI scored one run in the top of the sixth and three more in the seventh. The Explorers scored two more runs in the bottom of the seventh to take the 7-4 win.

Sophomore left-handed starter Nick Greenwood matched his career-high in strikeouts on Saturday for the Rams. He struck out 10 Explorers but still got the loss. La Salle defeated URI.

"Nick threw a great game," Foster said. "He kept one breaking ball up and that was the difference in the game. We gave him no offense. He had a pretty good fastball."

In the sixth inning, the Explorers scored with a homerun over the right field fence to take the 1-0 lead. In the top of the inning, the Rams had a chance to score with the bases loaded with two outs. Sophomore Rob Deveney ended the inning with a fielder's choice ground ball to shortstop to get junior Dan Rhault out at second.

The last game on Sunday was a positive one for the Rams, giving sophomore starter Eric Smith his first win. The Rams won 6-0.

"Eric Smith has some of the best stuff on the team with the type of pitches and his velocity," Foster said. "It couldn't have come at a better time. I was proud of him."

Smith pitched seven innings and gave up only two hits with five strikeouts.

The Rams had 11 hits to three from the Explorers. In the top of the fifth, URI took the 2-0 lead with two hits and an error.

The Rams added to their lead in the seventh when they scored four more runs. Sophomore Oliver Palmer, freshman Tom Coulombe and freshman Pete Mastors all scored on a triple by Hagey. Hagey scored on a sacrifice fly by senior Zach Zaneski to take the 6-0 win.

Junior reliever Luke Demko and sophomore Tim Boyce finished out the eighth and ninth innings for URI not allowing a run.

The Rams now have a record of 22-21-1 (9-8-1 A-10) with three weeks left to play. They will host the College of Holy Cross today at 3:30 p.m.

"The guys have been playing good lately," Foster said.

Sophomore right-hander Dan Rossignol and freshman southpaw Chris Pickering will split pitching duties today for the Rams.

"It should be a good, competitive ballgame," Foster said.

The Rams have a tough schedule ahead of them with A-10 conference games against Saint Joseph's University this weekend, the University of Massachusetts the weekend after and the University of North Carolina-Charlotte to finish the regular season.