Bulldogs, Rams ready for postseason
URI grabs win over Bryant on hit by pitch with bases loaded in 12th
KINGSTON — It was about as fitting an end to the Rhode Island college baseball regular season as you could script. Both URI and Bryant have transformed themselves into programs that can compete on the national scene and their newfound success culminated in a four-hourplus, 12-inning game on Friday.
After the Bulldogs whupped up on Rhody, in Smithfield on Thursday, Friday’s game was much more competitive. The Bulldogs led by three early in the game, but a URI two-out rally in the ninth forced extra innings.
Brett McManus collected the oddest of walk-offs when he was plunked with a pitch in the 12th, and URI split the series thanks to a 6-5 win.
“That’s a good win to finish the regular season,” URI head coach Raphael Cerrato said. “Playing really good baseball, that’s a good team. They should win their conference tournament. Good comeback win against their closer.”
Bulldog closer Logan Lessard came into the game with a 5-3 lead, but failed to shut the door on the Rams. URI was down to its last strike, but Jordan Powell poked a groundball through the left side of the infield that scored two runs and tied the game.
“We had our closer out there to close the game and he didn’t close it,” Bryant head coach Steve Owens said. “That’s what the game came down to. We had to get three outs and the guy we gave the baseball to didn’t get the job done.”
Neither team has a realistic shot at an NCAA at-large bid, so the two-game home-and-home series was mostly for state bragging rights.
“Playing really good baseball, that’s a good team. (Bryant) should win their conference tournament.” – URI’s Raphael Cerrato
The rivalry is a friendly one, and has evolved as the level of competition in Rhode Island has skyrocketed over the course of the past few seasons.
“It was very competitive, a good warmup for both of our [conference] tournaments,” Owens said. “We’re both good teams that are ready to go out and compete.”
“It’s awesome,” Cerrato agreed. “They’re a very good, very well coached, talented team. They do things the right way. We try to do things the right way here. I wish more people came down and watched games and paid attention. It’s really good baseball. Agreat chance to watch local kids play really hard.”
There were some stakes on the line in the game, as the winner would be the only Rhode Island team to win 30 regular-season games this year. URI improved 30-20 with the victory, and the Bulldogs will enter their conference tournament at 29-24.
While they may have fell short of the 30-win milestone, the Bulldogs have had a tremendous turnaround this season.
“It’s been a crazy year all year,” Owens said. “Our best freshman hitter has been out all year. We’ve had a lot of issues to deal with this year and we started 3-17. Now we’ve won our conference and we’re a pretty good club right now.”
Bryant won the Northeast Conference by posting a 20-6 mark, overcoming their very poor start and a litany of injuries.
“We played the whole weekend without our starting second and third basemen,” Owens said. “They’re seniors. For us to do what we did without those two guys [says a lot]. Our left fielder has a hurt arm, he’s playing third base.”
If the Bulldogs go on to win the NEC tournament, it will be their second straight automatic bid into the NCAA tournament. They lost a 5-4 heartbreaker to Sacred Heart in the 2015 NEC championship game.
Bryant has led the unexpected Rhode Island baseball surge, and with young players dotting their lineup and rotation, they don’t look to be going anywhere anytime soon. Sophomore Steve Theetge made the start on Friday, and posted a performance that harkened back to his lights-out freshman campaign.
Through six innings, Theetge struck out seven batters and allowed a single earned run. Last season, the 6-foot-3 lefty recorded the best win-loss record in NEC history. His numbers weren’t as gaudy this time around, but he still provides the Bulldogs with shutdown talent.
“He was awesome,” Owens said. “If we were playing next week, we leave him out there. We had to use some bullpen guys and get them ready. He could’ve kept going for an inning or two.”
“It’s great,” he continued, of the rise of RI baseball. “Brown is improving, too. They played well, beat us this year. Beautiful new facility. It’s great to see teams from Rhode Island [do well]. We’re friends with these guys. We compete like hell and shake hands after. It’s a healthy rivalry.”
While URI failed to win a second consecu- tive regular season title in the Atlantic 10, they are also poised to make some postseason noise.
Thursday’s blowout loss was their fourthstraight loss, but the bottom of their lineup helped to right the ship on Friday. Mike Foley and Greg Cavallere both had RBIs from their spots at the very end of the Rhody batting order, and all four of URI’s lower batters scored a run in the win.
“It’s important,” Cerrato said. “We’re coming together offensively. Sonny [Ulliana’s] getting healthy, Martin [Figueroa’s] getting healthy. Brett McManus is hitting, Foley had a couple good at-bats this game. We potentially have some really good length in our lineup.”
The two teams will play in their respective conference tournaments next week, looking to make it two years in a row that the state has placed two programs in the NCAA’s. The Bulldogs will compete at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. for the NEC title starting Thursday, while the Rams travel to St. Louis in search of another A-10 crown, starting on Wednesday.