Rhode Island Looks To Extend Season at Baton Rouge Regional

5/29/2025 10:36:00 AM

Rhode Island (38-20) at Baton Rouge Regional
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WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS

  • Just one year after missing the postseason entirely, Rhode Island Baseball returned as the top seed and won its third Atlantic 10 conference title in program history.
  • The Rams, who captured the regular season championship, knocked off four-seed Davidson and three-seed Saint Louis before defeating two-seed George Mason in Saturday's championship game.
  • Four Rhody student-athletes were named to the All-Tournament Team, led by Most Outstanding Player DJ Perron.
  • The graduate student was joined by classmates Trystan Levesque and Nic Notarangelo, along with senior Anthony DePino. 
  • Closer Joe Sabbath went viral for his championship celebration, which he went into as second baseman Scott Penney tossed a fielded ground ball over to Perron at first. He was featured by NCAA Baseball, CBS Sports and numerous other media outlets.
  • The 2025 Rams join the 2016 squad and the 2005 group in terms of bringing Atlantic 10 Tournament titles back to Kingston. 

RHODY AT REGIONALS

  • URI is making its third NCAA Regional appearance in program history and first in nearly a decade.
  • The Rams secured the Atlantic 10's automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship by winning the league title and were officially named to the field as a three-seed during Monday's selection show.
  • Rhode Island earned its highest seeding in program history, thanks in part to its RPI of 68.
  • The trip to Baton Rouge will be Rhody's second-longest for NCAA Tournament play, having been to Long Beach State in 2005 and South Carolina in 2016. 
  • It is URI's second time traveling to face the sixth-ranked team in the country for an NCAA Regional, having done so when the team went to Columbia to take on No. 6 South Carolina.
  • Rhody has a 1-4 record in the NCAA Tournament entering competition at No. 6 LSU.
  • The lone win was a 5-4 upset over the Gamecocks on June 3, 2016 when head coach Raphael Cerrato was in his second year at the helm and assistant coach Kevin Heiss was a freshman shortstop. 

A LOOK AT THE BRACKET

  • All three opponents that the Rams have the potential of facing in this weekend's double-elimination bracket would be first-time foes for URI.
  • On Friday, Rhode Island will take on two-seed Dallas Baptist, a member of Conference USA. URI has a 2-21-2 record against C-USA schools, having previously played FIU, New Mexico State, Liberty and Sam Houston.
  • The Patriots received an at-large selection to the NCAA Baseball Championship after falling to Jacksonville State in the Conference USA Tournament. Dallas Baptist won the first game before dropping the final two.
  • Top-seed LSU, the sixth-ranked team on the NCAA Baseball Championship graphic, also enters the postseason as an at-large selection. 
  • The Tigers tied with Vanderbilt for third in the Southeastern Conference standings at the end of the regular season. Rhode Island has a 5-41 all-time record against SEC teams, with wins over Arkansas, Alabama, Kentucky, South Carolina and Missouri. 
  • Like the Rams, four-seed Little Rock won its league to receive an automatic bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship. The Trojans went 5-0 at the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament to prolong their season.
  • Rhode Island is relatively inexperienced with the OVC, having only played Southeast Missouri (W) and Morehead State (L). Both were single meetings in 1984.