Spring Break
Rhody baseball shuts out Dayton, improves overall record to 17-10-1
Kyle Towne
Issue date: 4/7/09 Section: Sports
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"We played a lot of good baseball this weekend," junior Oliver Palmer said.
The Rams improved to 17-10-1 overall and 7-2 in Atlantic 10 play after the three victories.
"We've had some struggles in midweek games where we didn't play well at all," Palmer said. "It was good to get that out of the way. It gave us a gut check and made us more focused."
In the first game of the series, junior Tim Boyce got the start for the Rams. Although he hit batters in each of the first two innings, he was able to escape both innings without allowing a runner to reach second base.
In the bottom of the second, junior Rob DeVeney ripped a double with one out in the inning, and advanced to third the following single by sophomore Jeff Cammans. Freshman Mike LeBel hit the ball to deep left in the next at bat, allowing DeVeney to tag up and score URI's first run.
Dayton started to pick things up offensively in the third, threatening to score with runners on first and third with two outs. The Flyers were unable to come up with a big hit though, and stranded the two runners.
After a groundout to lead off the bottom of the third, the Rams' next three hitters reached base safely to load the bases for senior Dan Rhault. Rhault blew the game wide open when he caught ahold of the ball, powering it to right center field for his third career grand slam.
"A lot of timely hits really helped us out," Palmer said. "It's good to spread out scoring over the entire game, and not just score 10 runs in one inning."
With a 5-0 lead, Boyce continued to shut down the Dayton offense, not allowing base runners during the next three innings while striking out five.
The Rams' shutout was broken by the Flyers in the seventh inning, when they scored a run on two hits.
Palmer continued to provide URI with solid production on offense, hitting an RBI double in the bottom of the seventh and later scoring on a throwing error.
Boyce provided the Rams with another impressive inning in the eighth, retiring three batters in order by way of the groundout.
"Boyce pitched a heck of a game," Palmer said. "It's great to have that kind of pitching behind us."
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