MERION STATION, Pa. – Trailing 12-6 in the fifth inning, the Saint Joseph's baseball team rallied to stun Rhode Island, 18-16, at Smithson Field on Saturday in the regular season finale for both teams.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Rhode Island (35-20 overall, 22-8 Atlantic 10) opened up an early lead, scoring once in the first and four times in the second to go ahead, 5-0.
 
• Saint Joseph's (24-26 overall, 17-13 Atlantic 10) answered in the third as Sam Meyer led off with a walk and scored on a double by Alex Kelsey.  After walks to Colin Myers and Joey Pagano, Owen Petrich brought home a run on a fielder's choice and Blake Primrose drove in another with a sacrifice fly.
 
• After URI scored two more in the fourth, Aidan Duda was hit by a pitch before a Dean Bergmann single; Meyer followed with a three-run home run to bring the Hawks within one at 7-6.
 
• The Rams then scored five times in the top of the fifth, but a single by Petrich, a walk to Tim Dickinson, and a single by Duda loaded the bases in the bottom of the frame; the Hawks would then scratch two across on a wild pitch and an error to make it a 12-8 game after five.
 
• Rhode Island posted a singleton in the sixth before the Hawks turned the game on its head with a seven-spot in the bottom of the inning.  Myers was hit by a pitch to start the inning before a one-out double by Petrich moved him to third.  Two batters later, Dickinson singled them in to make it a three-run game.
 
• After a walk by Duda, Bergmann was hit by a pitch to load the bases for Meyer, who drew a walk to force in a run and reload the bases.  Kelsey promptly unloaded them with a grand slam to right that gave the Hawks their first lead of the game at 15-13.
 
• It would be short-lived, as URI scored two in the seventh, but the tie wouldn't last long as a leadoff home run by Petrich gave the Hawks the lead once again.  Two batters later, Dickinson reached on an error and Duda was hit by a pitch before a walk to Bergmann loaded the bases for Meyer; his ground ball allowed a run to score and restore the two-run margin.
 
• In the eighth, Myers drew a leadoff walk before Eric Cross moved him to third with his first collegiate hit, a single to right center.  After a wild pitch moved Cross to second, Petrich swung and missed at strike three, which bounced off the backstop and back to the catcher.  Petrich was retired at first base, but Myers scampered home on the throw to first and the return throw to the plate was not in time.
 
• The Rams made it interesting in the ninth, as a leadoff home run cut the Hawk advantage to 18-16 and a hit batsman brought the tying run to the plate with nobody out.  Matt Fitzgibbon then struck out the top two hitters in the URI lineup before Myers, who had moved from shortstop to left field earlier in the game, made a leaping catch against the fence to end the ballgame and send the Hawks home with the win.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Dylan Duke allowed two runs on two hits in an inning of work and was credited with the win, while Dorsy Asencio allowed two runs and one hit in two-thirds of an inning to take the loss.  Fitzgibbon collected his third save of the season.
 
• Kelsey was 2-for-5 with two runs scored, five runs batted in, and a walk on Saturday, with Meyer going 1-for-3 with a walk, three runs scored, and five driven in as well.
 
• Petrich finished the day 3-for-6, while Kelsey was the only other Hawk with multiple hits.  Duda was hit twice, walked twice, and recorded a hit to reach base five times in the game.
 
• Myers scored three runs and reached base four times, drawing two walks and being hit by a pitch twice.  Petrich and Dickinson joined both Myers and Meyer with three runs scored, while Duda and Bergmann scored twice along with Kelsey.
 
• The teams combined to use 16 pitchers, issue 19 walks, and hit 11 batters in the game.  One of those pitchers was Carson Applegate, who made his first appearance on the mound in a Hawk uniform; he struck out one in one inning of work and was the only pitcher on either side to record a 1-2-3 inning.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks will be seeded fifth for the Atlantic 10 Championship and will meet fourth-seeded Davidson at 11:00 a.m. on Tuesday.