Baseball
Baseball Knocks Off Sacred Heart, 9-3
April 22, 2008
BRIDGEPORT, Conn. - Senior Chris Parkinson (Utica, N.Y.) went 4-for-5 with two runs and an RBI as the Rhode Island baseball team cruised past Sacred Heart, 9-3, Tuesday afternoon at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport, Conn. Freshman Chris Pickering (Lincoln, R.I.) earned the win on the mound, improving to 5-1 on the season.
The Rhody offense tallied eight runs over the first four innings and started things off in the top of the first when senior Zach Zaneski (Waterford, Conn.) and sophomore Oliver Palmer (North Kingston, R.I.) scored on an error by Sacred Heart shortstop Phil Tantillo.
The following inning, junior Dan Rhault (Lincoln, R.I.) extended his hitting streak to 12 games on a lead-off single to left before giving the Rams a 3-0 lead on an RBI groundout by sophomore Zoey Angulo (Miami, Fla.).
In his next at-bat, Rhault was hit by a pitch and went on to score on a two-out third-inning double to left by Parkinson. Angulo then singled to center, sending Parkinson across the plate and putting Rhode Island up by five.
Senior Mike O'Malley (Nashua, N.H.) sent a one-out shot over the left field fence to spark a three-run fourth inning that also saw sophomore Rob Deveney (Marlton, N.J.) crush his 13th double of the season before scoring on Shaun Hagey's (Ephrata, Pa.) right-field single. Hagey - who extended his hitting streak to 15 games this afternoon - went on to score URI's eighth run on a two-out error by Pioneer pitcher Corey Corcoran.
Sacred Heart got a run back in the bottom of the fifth inning, and two more in the seventh, to cut Rhody's lead to five but freshman Jeff Cammans' (Jamestown, R.I.) ninth-inning RBI single plated Parkinson for the 9-3 victory.
Pickering lasted five innings with four strikeouts, three hits and one run while freshmen Gardner Leaver (Montauk, N.Y.) and Ken Graveline (Prospect, Conn.) combined for four innings of relief. Sacred Heart starter Mike Drowne was charged with the loss after allowing three runs on three hits in two innings of work.
The win moves Rhode Island to 20-19-1 while Sacred Heart drops to 6-30.
The Rams are back in action tomorrow afternoon, when they return to Bill Beck Field to host Connecticut at 3:30 p.m.
