Baseball stays hot at home, takes two from La Salle

04/14/09 - The University of Rhode Island baseball team (19-12-1) defeated La Salle University (13-17) in both games this past weekend, winning 9-5 and 6-4."The guys did a good job of working on the things we worked on at practice," head coach Jim Foster said.

Junior Oliver Palmer continued his leadership of the Rams' offense, going 5-for-8 with two home runs and four RBI's.

"He's hitting the ball all over the ballpark," Foster said. "He's really playing well."

Starting for the Rams was red shirt junior Tim Boyce, who is 4-1 this season. He got through the first inning without allowing a run despite a two-out double by the Explorers.

The Rams were able to get a runner to second in their half of the inning, but were unable to hit him in.

Both teams were unable to produce any runs in the second inning, sending the game to the third with no score.

"The pitching has been alright and the batting could be better," Foster said. "We just need to continue improvements in everything."

Boyce continued to control the game in the third, striking out two as he set the side down in order. The Rams got their offense going with two outs in the bottom of the third, starting with sophomore Pete Mastors reaching on an error. Mastors was moved to second on a single by Palmer, and came into score on a single by senior Dan Rhault.

The Explorers responded in the top of the fourth, scoring on a sacrifice fly to tie the game 1-1. They kept it going in the fifth, tacking on another run with a single to take a 2-1 lead.

The Rams regained control of the game in the bottom of the sixth with another two-out rally. With a runner on second, the Rams earned back-to-back walks to load the bases for sophomore Kenny Burns. Burns ripped a triple to score all three runners and give URI a 4-2 lead.

Boyce quickly retired La Salle's offense in the seventh, earning a 1-2-3 inning in his last inning of work.

Rhody blew the game open in the bottom of the inning, beginning with a leadoff homer by Palmer. Sophomore Tom Coulombe followed up with a double, and was immediately singled in by junior Rob DeVeney. DeVeney then stole second and third in consecutive pitches, setting up an RBI single by sophomore Jeff Cammans.

La Salle scored three runs in the top of the eighth to close in on URI's lead, but it proved to be too little too late. URI responded with two more runs in the bottom of the inning, and senior closer Luke Demko shut the door in the ninth to end the game at 9-5 in URI's favor.

The Rams wasted no time getting ahead in the second game of Friday's doubleheader, putting up a run in the bottom of the first.

"Getting the doubleheader was not a bad thing," Foster said. "It was a beautiful day for baseball."

La Salle answered back in the second, tying the game up with a bevy of hits.

URI regained the lead in the bottom of the fourth on freshman Mike LeBel's bases loaded double that scored two runs, putting the Rams ahead 3-1.

Junior southpaw Nick Greenwood ran into some trouble in the sixth inning, allowing La Salle to load the bases with just one out. A spectacular diving catch by first baseman Cammans robbed the Explorers of an RBI hit and gave Greenwood a chance to escape a jam. The Explorers earned a gritty two-out single with the following batter to score two runs and tie up the game, 3-3.

Greenwood continued his troubles in the seventh, allowing three baserunners and a run while getting just one out before being replaced by sophomore Ken Graveline. Graveline mopped up the mess, getting out of the inning not allowing any runs.

The Rams took the lead back in the bottom of the seventh on RBI's by Palmer and Coulombe that put URI up 5-4.

"I want to see the same team show up everyday," Foster said. "We need to play on an even keel, not up and down."

Graveline returned to pitch the eighth, and was superb as he got all three hitters he faced to fly out to right field.

Rhault hit an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth to provide URI with some insurance, heading into the final inning with a 6-4 lead.

The two-run lead was more than enough for Demko, who finished the game off successfully for his second save of the day.

Demko now has nine saves as the closer for the Rams, striking out 27 batters in his 21 innings of work.

"We just need to keep our consistency going," Foster said. "We need to do a better job of bringing it every day."

The Rams will continue their season today when they host Quinnipiac University (9-19) at 3:30 pm at Bill Beck Field.

"We are going to try and get a bunch of guys going," Foster concluded. "It's a good opportunity to see what the guys can do.