Rhode Island Holds Off Bama to Avoid Sweep, 7-6
8/28/2003 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
 |
|
TUSCALOOSA -- Rhode Island University held off a ninth-inning rally by the University of Alabama baseball team for its first win of the season, posting a 7-6 win Sunday afternoon at Sewell-Thomas Stadium.
Alabama (8-3) scored five times in the bottom of the ninth inning to pull to within one run before senior center fielder Travis Garner flied out to right fielder Matt Sullivan to end the game and end the Crimson Tide's five-game winning streak.
Trailing 7-2 entering the bottom of the ninth inning, Alabama scored five times to bring the tying run to the plate. Alabama had only one run and three hits through eight innings against right-hander Dan Frederick.
Junior Brad Van Winkle led off the inning with walk and moved to third base on a wild pitch and ground out before the two-out rally began.
Sophomore first baseman Zac Welch followed with a sharp single to right field off Frederick, who was seeking the first complete game of the year for the Rams. Welch's base hit scored Van Winkle and cut the deficit to 7-2.
Sophomore third baseman Spencer Pennington followed with a base hit to left field, moving Welch to second base. Sophomore second baseman Allen Rice kept the inning alive as he reached on a throwing error by third baseman Dan Batz. Welch scored on the error, cutting the margin to 7-3.
Following the error, URI coach Frank Leoni called on right hander Keith Ross from the bullpen to replace the gritty Frederick. The URI starter lasted 8 2/3 innings and allowed five runs and five hits, walking three and striking out five batters. He also hit three batters and unleashed one wild pitch. Frederick was charged with only two earned runs in the win.
Freshman catcher Charlie Lyons greeted Ross with a three-run home run over the left field scoreboard, pulling Alabama to within one run at 7-6. Ross the got Garner to flu out to Sullivan in right field to end the game.
The three-run home run was the first career home run for the Northport native, who extended UA's streak of home runs to six consecutive games with his ninth-inning blast.
Rhode Island (1-6) scored two insurance runs in the top of the ninth inning to avoid what would have been a heart-breaking loss to the Crimson Tide.
Wayne Russo led off the inning with a single to right field, chasing reliever Seth Johnson from the mound. Alabama's ace closer Brian Reed came in the game and gave up three straight hits before retiring the next three hitters.
Dan Hayden greeted Reed with a bunt single and Batz followed with a base hit to left field to load the bases. Batz had four hits on the day for the Rams and drove in one run. Sullivan then followed with a two-run double to right-center, scoring Russo and Hayden with what proved to be the winning runs.
Alabama spotted Rhode Island a 3-0 lead in the sixth inning, with two runs coming on a throwing erorr by third baseman Evan Bush. It was their first lead over Alabama in the three-game series.
Josh Nestor drew a one out walk and moved to third base on back-to-back singles by D.J. Burns and Russo. UA starter Jeffrey Norris then hit Hayden with a pitch, forcing Nestor home from third base.
Alabama coach Jim Wells quickly went to his reliable bullpen, bringing in freshman Allen Ponder with the bases loaded and one out. Ponder got the second out of the inning when Batz fouled out to Welch at first base. Ponder the got a ground ball off the bat of Sullivan, but Bush's throw to second base sailed into right field, allowing Burns and Russo to score a pair of unearned runs.
Norris (1-1) was charged with the loss after he failed to get out of the fifth inning for the second time in three starts. The left-hander was charged with three runs and five hits, adding one walk and seven strikeouts.
The Rams made it a 5-0 game with two more unearned runs in the sixth inning. T.J. Baker opened the inning with a single to left field and moved to second on a wild pitch. Mike Rainville then walked to put runners at first and second base to set up a sacrifice bunt attempt. Nestor followed with a bunt, but all three runners were safe when Bush failed to touch third base as he took the throw from catcher Bobby Burns.
D.J. Burns followed with an RBI single to right field, scoring Baker with an unearned run, to give URI a 4-0 lead. Right-hander Seth Johnson came on for Ponder and struck out the next two batters before Batz reached on an infield single to short. Rainville scored on the infield hit, but Nestor was gunned down at the plate as he tried to score from second base as the ball was fielded by Adam Pavkovich in shallow left field.
Alabama tallied its first run of the game in the sixth inning when Burns reached on a fielder's choice, moved to third on Garner's double and scored on a ground out by Pavkovich.
The Crimson Tide could not overcome the two errors or the two insurance runs in the ninth by the Rams in dropping its second home game of the season. The Crimson Tide lost only two regular season home games last year in posting a 34-2 regular season home slate.
In addition to Batz' four hits, Sullivan, Baker and Burns had two hits each for the Rams.
Garner had two doubles and was the only Alabama player with more than one hit. Pavkovich singled in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games, while Welch's ninth-inning single extended his hitting streak to nine games. Senior Beau Hearod was hitless in three at-bats to snap his season-best seven-game hitting streak and seven-game RBI streak.
After playing four games in four days, Alabama will take Monday off before hosting Belmont Tuesday night at 6:30 p.m. at Sewell-Thomas Stadium. Alabama will also entertain Birmingham Southern on Wednesday night at 6:30 p.m.
