Rhody baseball extends win streak to six with two more wins in Fla.

03/11/09 - The University of Rhode Island baseball team wrapped up a successful trip to Florida last weekend by defeating Fairfield University 4-3 and Ohio State University 8-6.The wins were the fifth and sixth in a row for Rhody on a road trip that included a marquee win against perennial powerhouse Miami University on March 3.

Ohio State is also ranked No. 25 in the collegiate baseball poll.

"It was a great road trip," head coach Jim Foster said. "I'm very happy with the way the guys have been getting after it."

In Friday's contest, Rhody squared off against a Fairfield team whom it had beaten just three days prior, 12-6.

Junior Dan Rossignol got the start for the Rams and went 5.2 innings, allowing five hits and one earned run.

The lone run came across in the bottom of the second inning, as the Stag's Mike Joyce belted a double to left-center scoring teammate Jason Rago to put Fairfield up 1-0.

Rossignol forced the next better to ground into a would-be final out, but a Rhody error kept the Fairfield attack alive.

With runners on first and third, Rossignol was able to tiptoe out of trouble, catching the Stags' Mark Skrapits looking to end the inning.

Fairfield starting pitcher Sam Robertson took a no-hitter into the sixth inning before URI sophomore and gorhody.com Player of the Week, Tom Coulombe, roped a double to left-center, scoring junior Oliver Palmer who had reached base on a walk.

Robertson was then replaced by Dan Gallagher, who abruptly plunked two Rhody batters, loading the bases for junior Zoey Angulo.

Angulo was unable to cash in, as he grounded into a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning with the score tied at one.

With two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Fairfield's Tucker Nathans knocked Rossignol out of the game with double in the gap. Nathans was able to advance to third on a throwing error.

Foster then handed to the ball to sophomore Ken Graveline in relief.

Graveline gave up a double as well, this time to the Stags' Jason Rago, scoring Nathans from third.

Rhody catcher Chris Horning was able to snuff out the Fairfield threat, throwing out Rago who was attempting to steal third, to end the inning.

After trading zeros in the seventh, the Rams were staring at a 2-1 deficit without much game left to play.

In their half of the eighth, URI was able to put two runners on base with no one out, thanks to another hit batsman and a walk.

In an attempt to move the runners, Coulombe laid down a sacrifice bunt, but was rewarded with a fielder's choice after a throwing error by Stags pitcher Justin Servino. The error allowed junior Oliver Palmer to score from second, tying the game at two.

The next batter, junior Rob DeVeney, lashed a double down the left field line, scoring two runs to pad the Rhody lead. DeVeney was thrown out at third attempting to stretch the hit into a triple.

Back-to-back ground outs ended the inning for the Rams, as they went into the bottom half of the eighth, leading 4-2.

Fairfield was only able to scratch out one more run in its last two chances, securing the victory for URI.

Graveline was credited with his first collegiate win after going 1.1 innings on two hits and one run.

In the second game of the weekend, the Rams took on nationally ranked Ohio State University.

The Buckeyes came into the contest a perfect 7-0 and were hoping to ride the arm of lefty Andrew Armstrong to their eighth victory.

Rhody came out of the gate swinging, scoring in the first on a single by Palmer, a double by Coulombe and an OSU throwing error.

The Buckeyes responded in its half of the first with two runs off of Rams starting pitcher Tim Boyce on a walk and three straight singles.

The seesaw affair continued into the second inning as Rhody tacked on two more runs, using two hits to capitalize on a Buckeye throwing error.

URI would relinquish their 3-2 lead in the third as Ohio State tacked on three runs on two Rhody errors, a triple by Dan Burkhart and a single by Matt Streng.

The Rams threatened in the top of the fourth after Armstrong pitched himself into a jam by loading the bases with three one-out walks.

Palmer then sent a screaming liner to deep left field that was caught by the Buckeye's Zach Hurley.

Freshman Mike LeBel tagged up on the play and appeared to be safe at the plate, but after an Ohio State appeal, it was determined that he left early, ending the inning and keeping the score 5-3.

Heading into the Buckeye fourth, Foster opted to use ace Nick Greenwood in a relief role.

Greenwood would give up a double to Cory Kovanda to start the inning before settling down and allowing only one unearned run on a two-base error.

Still down 6-3 in the seventh inning, Rhody would come up big to score four runs on three hits, a hit batsman, catcher's interference and a costly Ohio State error. The hits, all singles, came off the bats of Palmer, LeBel and sophomore Jeff Cammans.

The Rams would add one more insurance run in the eighth to close off the scoring and secure the 8-6 comeback victory.

Greenwood earned the win for Rhode Island, retiring his last 17 batters in a row while notching nine strikeouts in the process. The win is Greenwood's second of the year. He leads the team in strikeouts with 21.

Cammans, who totaled three hits on the day, led Rhody's 12-hit attack. Cammans leads the team with 15 hits.

With two impressive victories over ranked teams, URI is creating some buzz in the national rankings.

"Someone told me we got six votes the other day," Foster said. "It's just a number though, we don't need that as far as our ball club is concerned."

Rhody's next four contests will be tests against two more ranked opponents. The Rams will play No. 12 California State University-Fullerton and No. 13 Oklahoma State University twice each this weekend at the Oklahoma State Tournament in Stillwater, Okla.