PROVIDENCE, R.I. - The Rhode
Island College baseball team opened the Little East Conference
schedule Saturday afternoon with a doubleheader sweep of Plymouth
State University at Anchorman Field. RIC took game one, 9-7, and
won the nightcap, 12-2.
The Anchormen (10-5, 2-0) jumped out to a 5-0 lead after four
innings of the opener, only to see the Panthers claw their way back
to take a 7-5 advantage heading into the bottom of the eighth. RIC
pushed four runs across in the eighth and junior closer Eric Fama
(Wappingers Falls, N.Y.) slammed the door shut in the ninth to
record his second save.
PSU (4-11, 0-2) got on the board in the fifth inning when senior
John Pogorzelski (Hillsborough, N.J.) doubled and
classmate Brandon Hodge (Bradford, Vt.) followed
with a two-run home run. The Panthers took advantage of RIC
miscues with a pair of unearned runs in the seventh, and another
PSU run came home on a wild pitch in the seventh. PSU's final
two runs came home in the eighth, the last one on an RBI single by
junior Jay Kleponis (Reading, Mass.), one of his
three hits in the game.
Senior Chip Hale (Londonderry, N.H.) started for
PSU and worked seven innings with a no-decision. Freshman
reliever Chris Bryant (Lebanon, N.H.) suffered his
first loss (0-1) of the season in relief.
RIC took the lead in the nightcap with a pair of runs in the first
inning, but PSU evened the score with two in the fourth.
Pogorzelski walked and Hodge singled to put two runners on.
Pogozelski scored on an infield groundout by Kleponis, and Hodge
came home on an RBI single by freshman Dan Eagan
(Norwich, Conn.).
That was the extent of the Panther offense in the nightcap.
The Anchormen, meanwhile, chalked up three runs in the fifth inning
and two more in the sixth before putting the game away with five
runs in the eighth. PSU junior starting pitcher
Taylor Ketchum (Fairhaven, Mass.) worked
five-and-a-third innings and took the loss (1-2).
PSU's next game is slated for Wednesday at Keene State (3:30
p.m.). RIC hosts Bridgewater State on Monday at 3:30 p.m.
(Courtesy of RIC Sports Information)
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