Baseball
Baseball Downs George Washington, 5-4
March 24, 2003
Norwich, Conn. - The University of Rhode Island baseball team notched a thrilling 5-4 victory against George Washington to wrap-up an Atlantic 10 weekend at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn., on Monday afternoon.
Rhode Island jumped out to an early lead in the bottom of the first when redshirt freshman Wayne Russo, who led off the inning being hit by a pitch, scored on an RBI double from junior Dan Batz. Batz later scored on an unearned run to give the Rams a 2-0 lead. George Washington responded in the top of the second on an RBI single from senior Chris Barry and tied the score at 2-2 when sophomore Joe Michalski scored on a bases loaded walk to sophomore Anthony Raglani. The Rams regained the lead in the bottom of the third when Batz, who hit a one-out double, scored on an RBI double from sophomore Matt Sullivan. Rhode Island held on to the lead until the top of the seventh when George Washington scored on an RBI double from Raglani. Raglani later scored on a fielder's choice to give the Colonials their first lead, 4-3. In the bottom of the eighth, Sullivan led off with a walk and advanced to second on a single from redshirt freshman Adam Houston. After advancing to third on a groundout, Sullivan scored on an RBI groundout from senior Justin Lamboy to knot the game at 4-4. Rhode Island held GWU scoreless in the top of the ninth and provided the games dramatics in the bottom of the ninth. Russo hit a one-out single and stole second. Russo advanced to third on a groundout by D.J. Burns. After an intentional walk to Batz, GWU sophomore Nick Koken threw a wild pitch, scoring Russo from third to give the Rams the 5-4 victory.
Batz went 3-for-4 with two runs and an RBI while Sullivan was 2-for-3 with a run and RBI in the win for Rhode Island while Barry went 3-for-5 with one run and an RBI in the setback for the Colonials. Sophomore Dan Frederick had a solid outing for Rhode Island, allowing four runs on seven hits with five strikeouts in six and a third innings of work while freshman Tom Venedam was outstanding in relief, pitching two and two thirds of an inning with five strikeouts to pick up the win, his first of the season. Koken suffered the loss for the Colonials, allowing one run on one hit in one and a third innings, falling to 3-1 for the season.
With the win, Rhode Island improved to 7-11, 2-1 in the Atlantic 10 while George Washington is now 16-6, 1-2 in league play. The Rams will return to action on Wednesday, March 26th when they host Sacred Heart at Bill Beck Field at 3:00 p.m.
Game 1 123 456 789 - R H E GWU (16-6, 1-2) 020 000 200 - 4 8 1 URI (7-11, 2-1) 201 000 011 - 5 9 1 Win - Tom Venedam (URI) 1-1 Loss - Nick Koken (GWU) 3-1
