May 26, 2011
BOX SCORE
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
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CAMDEN, N.J. - Second-seeded Rhode Island (31-20) handed No. 6 La Salle (28-25) a, 7-4, decision during the second round of the 2011 Atlantic 10 Championship, Thursday afternoon at Campbell's Field in Camden, N.J.
"I think when we came out and put up five runs in the first that was huge," commented Rhode Island head coach Jim Foster. "We were just trying to go out and play our best baseball. We are trying to put the pieces together and have everything going right now at the end of the year, play a strong game against Charlotte and hopefully head into the championship."
With the win, URI advances to the semifinals where it will face No. 1 Charlotte on Friday, May 27 at 12:00PM, while La Salle heads to the elimination game, where it will take on No. 3 Dayton at approximately 7:00PM this evening. Live audio of the outing will be available through the A-10's official website - www.atlantic10.com.
Rhode Island registered five runs off six hits in the first inning, for what would ultimately be enough to put away the pesky Explorers. URI's Mike LeBel started the scoring spree with his infield single that brought home Kenny Burns, before Kyle Borden hit a two-run single to left to score Greg Annarummo and LeBel. Dan Haverstick closed out the scoring with a single to center to drive in Milan Adams and Borden.
La Salle answered in the second frame, as Marc Schoch scored off a Joe Bennie ground-out to shortstop.
The following inning, URI would once again extend its margin to five runs, as Borden brought LeBel home on a single to right field. LeBel then registered an RBI of his own for the Rams in the bottom of the fourth, flying out to right field on a sacrifice fly to score Jeff Cammans.
La Salle followed with a run in the sixth and a pair of runs in the seventh, cutting Rhode Island's lead to 7-4. In the top of the sixth, an error in right field allowed Schoch's sacrifice fly to drop and score Brendan Norton. Eric Kammler then hit an RBI single in the seventh to score Bennie, before Dan Klem crossed the plate on a throwing error from URI first baseman Tom Coulombe.
Rhode Island's Ken Graveline (7-4) earned the win on the mound, throwing 6.1 innings with one strikeout, while Ram teammate Kyle Regnault got his second save of the season after tossing an inning in relief. La Salle's Eric Van Wyk (3-4) took the loss after 8.0 innings of work, including six earned runs and three strikeouts.