MERION STATION, Pa. – The Saint Joseph's baseball team rallied back after a tough loss to split a doubleheader with Rhode Island at Smithson Field on Saturday afternoon.
In the opener, the Rams scored single runs in the first and fourth and tacked on three more in the seventh en route to a 5-1 win.
Rhode Island (19-21 overall, 10-5 Atlantic 10) took the lead on a double by Ryan Olmo in the top of the first before a solo home run by Jordan Powell in the fourth doubled the advantage.
The Rams added three more in the seventh, as Martin Figueroa hit a two-run home run and Brett McManus doubled home Olmo to make it 5-0.
Saint Joseph's (22-17 overall, 9-6 Atlantic 10) got one back in the bottom of the eighth, as a single by Deon Stafford, Jr., and walks to John Brue and Brian Lau loaded the bases with nobody out. Charlie Concannon then hit into a fielder's choice to bring home Stafford with what turned out to be the only Hawk run of the game.
Steve Moyers earned the win for Rhode Island, scattering eight hits across six shutout innings. Lucas Rollins went six innings for SJU, taking the loss after allowing two runs on nine hits. Tyler Barss tossed a perfect inning and a third to close out his eighth save of the season.
Tim Brennan stemmed the tide in the nightcap, turning in eight strong innings as the Hawks rebounded with an 8-3 victory to salvage a split of the twinbill.
URI went ahead early once again as Derek Gardella doubled home Olmo to give the Rams a 1-0 lead after two.
The Hawks batted around in the third, sending 10 hitters to the plate and scoring five runs. With one out, Taylor Boyd reached on a throwing error by shortstop Laurence Hill, and Marc Giacalone followed with a double down the left field line to score Boyd and tie the game. Giacalone advanced to third on a fly out by Stafford before Brue followed with a double of his own to put SJU in front.
Charlie Coghlin followed with a walk to bring up Concannon, whose single to center scored Brue and extended the lead to two. Matt Maul and Cal Jadacki added consecutive RBI singles as well to make it a 5-1 game after three.
Boyd led off the fourth with a single and stole second before Giacalone walked to put two on with nobody out. Stafford followed with an RBI single, but Giacalone was thrown out in a rundown for the first out of the inning. Brue then singled to move Stafford to third before a failed pickoff attempt by reliever Brad Applin brought Stafford home and moved Brue all the way to third. A single by Coghlin scored Brue to make it an 8-1 game.
An RBI groundout by Olmo in the top of the sixth got one back for the Rams, but Brennan would retire nine of the final 11 hitters he faced to keep the Hawks in control.
In the ninth, a one-out double by Connor Foreman scored Hill to cut the deficit to five, but Ryan Kelly struck out Mike Foley and induced a groundout from Chris Hess to end the ballgame.
Brennan scattered seven hits and allowed two runs, striking out three while walking none in eight innings to improve to 6-0 on the season. Ben Wessel took the loss, falling to 3-4 after allowing seven runs, only two of them earned, and nine hits in three and a third innings.
The Hawks will return to action on Tuesday, hosting Delaware at Smithson Field. First pitch is set for 3:00 p.m.
