Baseball
Long Ball Lifts Baseball Over Temple
April 17, 2004
KINGSTON, R.I. - The University of Rhode Island baseball team used a nine-run third inning to take a 9-3 win over Temple and sweep a doubleheader Saturday at Bill Beck Field.
Rhody used three home runs in the third inning to post its third-straight come-from-behind victory.
The Rams, who have won 11 of their last 12 games, won the opener 8-7 in extra innings. Rhode Island improved to 18-13-1 overall and 9-2 in the Atlantic 10, sitting in first place in the Atlantic 10 East Division after ripping off eight-straight conference victories. The Rams will go for their third-straight Atlantic 10 series sweep Sunday, when they host Temple at noon.
Junior Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I.) went 2-for-3 with a RBI and run scored. Freshman Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) and freshman Ryan Cunningham (Centerville, Va.) each had two hits.
Senior Dan Batz (Mohnton, Pa.) drove in two runs to bring his team-high total to 24 on the season. Sophomore Josh Nestor (Nashua, N.H.) drove in three runs, all coming on his second home run of the day.
Sophomore Zach Zuercher (Warwick, R.I.) earned the win to improve to 4-3 on the season, including 3-1 in the Atlantic 10. After a shaky first, Zuecher faced only one batter over the minimum in the final six innings. He allowed five hits, the three first inning runs, walked two and struck out 13 for his fourth double-digit strikeout performance of the season.
Temple (14-12, 4-4 Atlantic 10) jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the first inning off of Rhode Island starter Zach Zuercher (Warwick, R.I.), who hadn't allowed a run in 14 2/3 innings entering the game. Zuercher struck out the first two batters he faced, but walked John Quigley and Al Roach followed with a homer to right field to give the Owls a 2-0 lead. Jason Connor singled, stole second and scored on a basehit by Pete Colon for the 3-0 edge.
The Rams exploded for nine runs in the third inning, including three homers. Freshman Scott Brown (Portland, Maine) started things with a singled and senior Dan Batz (Mohnton, Pa.) followed with a homer to right field to bring the Rams within one run. Junior Mike Rainville (Pawtucket, R.I.) and sophomore Adam Houston (East Greenwich, RI) each singled and scored on a three-run homer by sophomore Josh Nestor (Nashua, N.H.), who also homered in the first game.
Freshman Ryan Cunningham (Centerville, Va.) doubled and sophomore Daryl Holcomb (Wilmington, Del.) was hit by a pitch. Sophomore Wayne Russo (Warwick, R.I.) then homered to right field to give the Rams an 8-3 lead. The Rams would ad another run on a RBI-single by junior Matt Sullivan (Nashua, N.H.).
RHODE ISLAND 9, TEMPLE 3 Temple 300 000 0 - 3 5 2 Rhode Island 009 000 x - 9 10 0 TU - Kurtz and Wagner. URI - Zuercher and Nestor. WP - Zuercher (4-3) LP - Kurtz.
