MERION STATION, Pa. –
Nate Thomas set a new record for career runs batted in as the Saint Joseph's baseball team thumped Rhode Island, 15-3, at Smithson Field on Friday afternoon.
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Things got off to an auspicious start for the Hawks as Billy Butler hit a two-run home run in the top of the first to give the Rams a 2-0 lead.
• Saint Joseph's (23-20-1 overall, 13-6 Atlantic 10) answered immediately as a two-out, two-run double by
Justin Igoe and an RBI single from Thomas made it a 3-2 game after one.
•
Luke Zimmerman homered in the bottom of the second to double the lead.
• In the third, Thomas hit a two-run double to break the record before
Travis Rinker greeted a URI relief pitcher with a three-run home run to push the lead to 9-2.
• SJU added four more in the fifth as a balk brought home a run before
Ryan Cesarini beat out an infield single and
Ryan Weingartner ripped a two-run hit of his own to make it a 13-2 game.
•
Max Hitman singled in a run in the bottom of the sixth before a
Brett Callahan groundout pushed the advantage to 15-2.
• Rhode Island (20-25 overall, 10-9 Atlantic 10) closed out the scoring with a Michael Anderson solo home run in the seventh.
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
•
Will McCausland tossed six strong innings for the Hawks, allowing two runs on six hits to improve to 5-2. He struck out eight against just one walk, which came to the first batter of the game.Â
Mike Falco pitched two innings and
Alec Rodriguez added one out of the bullpen.
• Sean Sposato was charged with eight runs on six hits in two-plus innings to take the loss.
• Thomas finished the day 3-for-4 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. That brought his career total to 178, two more than Bill Weingartner, who set the previous mark in 1995. Weingartner's son, Ryan, scored one of the two runs that came home on the record-breaking play.
• Zimmerman went 4-for-4 in the game with three runs scored while Cesarini scored three times as well.Â
Ryan Weingartner, Igoe, and Rinker added a pair of runs scored each while combining for seven RBI.
UP NEXT
The teams will continue the series on Saturday afternoon; first pitch is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. with live streaming available on ESPN+. Saturday is also Senior Day, when the Hawks will honor their graduating class.
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