Baseball
Baseball Splits Doubleheader With George Washington
March 23, 2003
NORWICH, Conn. - The University of Rhode Island baseball team split a doubleheader with George Washington in the opening Atlantic 10 weekend for both schools at the Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium in Norwich, Conn., on Sunday afternoon. Rhode Island took the opener in dramatic fashion, posting a come-from-behind 7-6 victory while George Washington won the nightcap, 10-2.
In the opener, George Washington jumped out to the early lead, posting five runs in the top of the second. Senior Travis Crowder hit a two-run single to right and later scored on a single from fellow senior Chris Barry as part of the Colonials five-run inning. GWU added to their lead in the top of the third when sophomore Ryan Roberson hit his second home run of the season to give George Washington the 6-0 lead.
Rhode Island responded in the bottom of the third when senior Justin Lamboy, who led off the inning with a single, scored on a walk to sophomore Dan Hayden for the Rams first run. The Rams added a second run in the inning on an RBI single from junior Dan Batz. After a scoreless fourth, Rhode Island came alive offensively in the fifth. Redshirt freshman Wayne Russo drew a one-out walk and advanced to third after an error by the GWU third baseman. Russo later scored and sophomore Matt Sullivan reached first after another Colonials error. Hayden, who earlier reached on an error, then scored on a wild pitch to make the score 6-4. Redshirt freshman Adam Houston singled another run for Rhode Island, cutting the deficit to just 6-5. Junior Jared Trout was next at the plate for the Rams and hit a homerun to left field, giving Rhode Island the 7-6 lead. Freshman Tom Venedam pitched a scoreless inning of relief and redshirt sophomore Keith Ross threw the last two thirds of an inning with two strikeouts to notch his fourth save in Rhode Island's thrilling victory. Junior Reid Willett picked up the win for Rhode Island, allowing six runs on eight hits with five strikeouts in five and a third innings while junior Greg Conden suffered the loss for the Colonials, allowing seven runs on four hits with six strikeouts in five innings.
In the nightcap, George Washington took an early 1-0 lead when they scored an unearned run with two outs. The score remained 1-0 until the top of the fourth when senior Chris Barry led off with a triple and scored on a single from fellow senior Tony Dokoupil. The Colonials added two more runs, including what would prove to be the game-winning run when Dokoupil scored on an RBI double from senior Travis Crowder. Freshman Tom Shanley closed out the scoring for the inning with an RBI single, scoring Crowder. George Washington added some insurance runs in the top of the fifth, scoring six runs on seven hits to take a 10-0 lead. Rhode Island scored two runs in the bottom of the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Batz and an unearned run. Sophomore Dan Sullivan picked up the complete-game victory for George Washington, allowing two runs on four hits with two strikeouts in seven innings of work while Rhode Island sophomore Mike Harris suffered the loss, allowing five runs on eight hits with two strikeouts in four innings.
With the split, Rhode Island is now 6-11, 1-1 in the Atlantic 10 while George Washington is 16-5, 1-1 in conference play. The two teams will wrap-up the weekend series at Dodd Stadium on Monday, March 24th at 12:00 p.m.
Game 1 123 456 7 - R H E GWU (15-5, 0-1) 051 000 0 - 6 9 2 URI (6-10, 1-0) 002 050 X - 7 4 1 Win - Reid Willett (URI) 2-2 Loss - Greg Conden (GWU) 4-2 Save - Keith Ross (URI) 2Game 2 123 456 7 - R H E GWU (16-5, 1-1) 100 360 0 - 10 15 2 URI (6-11, 1-1) 000 020 0 - 2 4 2 Win - Dan Sullivan (GWU) 1-1 Loss - Mike Harris (URI) 0-4
