Baseball
Baseball Edges Xavier 3-2, Sweeps Series
April 11, 2004
KINGSTON, R.I. - Senior Dan Batz (Mohnton, Pa.) hit a two-run homer and junior Mike Lefort (Lincoln, R.I.) pitched a scoreless ninth for his fifth save of the season as the University of Rhode Island baseball team edged Xavier 3-2 Sunday at Bill Beck Field to complete a sweep of their three-game Atlantic 10 series.
The win was the Rams ninth in the last 10 games and improved their record to 16-13-1, 7-2 in the Atlantic 10.
Sophomore Tom Venedam (Suffern, N.Y.) earned the win, pitching 1 1/3 perfect innings of perfect relief for starter Steve Holmes (Lincoln, R.I.). Holmes pitched 6 2/3 innings, allowing three hits, two of them infield singles, and two runs, one of which was earned. He walked one and struck out five. Lefort came on in the ninth and hit a batter with two outs before getting the final out on a grounder for his fifth save. Lefort is now two saves shy of the school's single season record of seven.
Rhode Island's three pitchers held Xavier to just three hits on the game, two of which were infield singles in the second inning. In the three-game series Rhody pitchers limited the Musketeers to nine hits, two runs, one earned run and had 26 strikeouts in 23 innings. Sophomore Zach Zuercher (Warwick, R.I.) and junior Dan Frederick (Dracut, Mass.) each pitched complete-game shutouts in a pair of 6-0 wins on Saturday.
"I feel like our pitchers are starting to hit their strides," Rhode Island coach Frank Leoni said. "This is what we were hoping for, they've got themselves on a little bit of a roll. They were hitting their spots, they just did their job."
Xavier starter Bill Konecy had a no-hit shutout going through 5 2/3 innings, despite walking seven batters. His eighth walk of the game came with two outs in the fifth to URI freshman Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) and that gave senior Dan Batz (Mohnton, Pa.) a chance to break out of nine at-bat hitless streak, the longest of the season for the Atlantic 10's leading hitter. Batz ended his minor drout with a two-run homer to right field, his second on the season, to tie the game at 2-2.
Rhode Island scored the go-ahead run in the seventh on a wild pitch. Viscuso drew a walk and Russo singled to right field. Both runners advanced on a passed ball, but Brown hit a grounder to third and Viscuso was cut down at the plate. With Russo on third and Brown on first with two outs, Batz was intentionally walked and with Zuercher at the plate, Xavier reliever Mike Creevy uncorked a wild pitch that allowed Russo to score and give the Rams the 3-2 lead.
The Rams didn't have a hit until the homer by Batz and only managed four on the day with sophomore Wayne Russo (Warwick, R.I.), junior Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I.) and sophomore Josh Nestor (Nashua, N.H.) each registering singles.
Xavier got on the board in the second inning when Moss reached on an infield single, advanced to second on a balk, then scored when on a botched pick-off play at second that resulted in two throwing errors, allowing Moss to score.
The Musketeers added another run in the third for a 2-0 lead. Wolf hit a one-out single, Johnson was hit by a pitch and McKnight hit a fly to right, allowing Wolf to tag and move to third, where he would score on a balk.
The Rams return to action on Wednesday when they host Fairfield at 3:30 p.m., follow that up with a trip to Iona on Thursday. Rhody hosts Temple for a three-game Atlantic 10 series beginning Saturday at Bill Beck Field.
RHODE ISLAND 3, XAVIER 2 Xavier 011 000 000 - 2 3 0 Rhode Island 000 020 10x - 3 4 2 Konecny, Creevy (7) and Wolf. Holmes, Venedam (7), Lefort (9) and Nestor. WP - Venedam (1-0). LP - Konecny (1-8). S - Lefort (5).
