HOUSTON – After HBU ran away with game one, 10-2, the Huskies needed an extra frame to slip past Rhode Island in game two, 3-2 in 10 innings, to sweep Saturday afternoon's non-conference doubleheader at Husky Field.
With the score tied in the nightcap, 2-2 in the bottom of the 10
th, junior leftfielder
Spencer Halloran led off with a single to left and went to second on wild pitch, before senior rightfielder
Brandon Brintz drew a walk. Senior centerfielder
Joe Van Marter moved the runners up with a sacrifice bunt, then junior first baseman
Jake Pulcheon laid down a squeeze bunt as Halloran slid home with the winning run.
Halloran went 3-for-4 and scored a pair of runs, while Pulcheon was 1-for-2 and drove in two for the Huskies (5-2).
Sophomore
JT Newton (1-0) earned his first win, coming in in the ninth with two on and no outs, and holding the Rams scoreless. Starter
Daniel Endsley took a no-decision, allowing only one unearned run on five hits with four strikeouts and three walks in 7.2 innings.
Jesse Lee went 2-for-3 and scored a run, while Matt O'Neil recorded the lone RBI for URI (2-4). Neither team recorded an extra-base hit.
Cam LaFleur (0-2) took the loss for the Rams, allowing one run on two hits with four strikeouts and two walks in 3.1 innings. Starter Matt Murphy gave up two unearned runs on three hits with seven strikeouts and no walks in 6.0 innings.
None of the first four runs of the game were earned, beginning with the pair HBU scored in the bottom of the first. Halloran and Brintz led off with back-to-back singles, then Van Marter laid down a bunt, but Murphy threw wide of first allowing Halloran to score. Pulcheon then lifted a sacrifice fly to right as the Huskies took a 2-0 lead.
Lee drew a two-out walk in the fifth for URI, then stole second. Kevin Heiss beat a chopper to first for an infield single, but the ball got away from Endsley, who was covering first, allowing Lee to score. In the top of the ninth, Hess reached on a throwing error to led off the inning, then advanced to second on a wild pitch. After a strikeout and a groundout , O'Neil singled to left to tie the game.
The Rams threatened in the 10
th as HBU reliever
Cody Marshall hit Brett McManus with a pitch to lead off the inning and Lee followed with a bunt single. Newton came in and Heiss laid down a bunt, but the Huskies got the force out at third. Greg Cavaliere grounded out to first, then Newton punched out Mike Foley looking to end the threat.
In game one, Halloran went 3-for-4 with a double, a triple and five RBIs, while junior shortstop
Tyler Depreta-Johnson went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run. Junior designated hitter
Matt Heck went 1-for-3 with a triple, an RBI and scored three times, and Pulcheon, who reached safely seven times on the day, went 1-for-2 and scored twice.
Sophomore
Zach Carter (2-0) allowed one run on six hits with six strikeouts and walk in 6.0 innings for HBU. Junior
Tanner Luna allowed one run in 2.0 innings and redshirt freshman
Evan McDonald pitched a perfect ninth.
Hess went 3-for-4 for URI, while O'Neil went 2-for-4. McManus and Martin Figuroa drove a run each for the Rams.
Nick Johnson (0-1) took the loss for the Rams, allowing seven runs, only three earned, on eight hits with six strikeouts and three walks in 4.2 innings. Ben Herbster gave up three runs on four hits with two walks in 2.0 innings.
URI grabbed an early lead as Cavaliere led off the game with an infield single and went to second on a sacrifice bunt by Jordan Powell. Hess singled to left, then Figueroa lifted a sacrifice fly to center.
HBU went scoreless through the first three innings, but Pulcheon and junior first baseman
Carey Jones were hit by pitches back-to-back with one out. Heck followed with a ground ball to second, but the shortstop dropped the throw to load the bases. After junior second baseman
Jack Fitzgerald was retired on an infield fly, Depreta-Johnson delivered an RBI single to right, then Halloran slapped a bases-clearing triple down the right-field line to put the Huskies up, 4-1.
Senior third baseman
Austin Zillweger led off the fifth with a single for the Huskies and Pulcheon drew a walk, then both runners moved up on a passed ball. Jones drove in a run with a sacrifice fly, then Heck tripled to the gap in right-center. Heck scored on Fitzgerald's single to left to stake HBU to a 7-1 lead.
The Huskies tacked on a run in the seventh on Halloran's RBI groundout, then two more in the eighth on an RBI double by Marshall in his first at-bat as a Husky and a bases-loaded walk to Halloran.
The series concludes with a single game Sunday beginning at 12:30 p.m.
