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 Oliver Palmer, Rhode Island |
May 22, 2008
CAMDEN, N.J - Sophomore Oliver Palmer collected a game-high four hits and reliever Tim Boyce escaped a bases loaded, no-out jam in the eighth as fifth-seeded Rhode Island downed No. 1 Xavier on Thursday afternoon, 11-4, at the 2008 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship at Campbell's Field.
Seeking its first A-10 crown since 2005, URI (31-25-1) will take on the Charlotte/Duquesne winner at 12:00pm on Thursday. Xavier (25-30) will face Temple, Charlotte or Duquesne on Thursday at 3:30pm.
XU trailed 7-4 in the bottom of the eighth before it loaded the bases on URI senior Jamie Degidio. After Boyce fanned junior Sean Farrell swinging, he was able to get Xavier third baseman John McCambridge to ground out into a fielder's choice double play to retire the side. The Rams added four more runs in the top of the ninth and Boyce pitched a perfect ninth to secure his fifth saved and Rhody's 16th win in 19 contests this season when scoring at least seven runs.
"Timmy [Boyce] is our closer for a reason and we have a lot of confidence in him. He did an unbelievable job," said Rhode Island head coach Jim Foster.
"Xavier is an outstanding club and I'm real happy to advance and keep on the same routine for tomorrow versus either Charlotte or Duquesne."
Rhode Island jumped on starter Charlie Leesman for a pair of runs in the top of the first as Palmer and shortstop Dan Rhault delivered two-out RBI singles. Xavier answered with a pair of runs on the bottom of the first, however, as shortstop Jordan Conley doubled off URI starter Nick Greenwood to drive in sophomore Bobby Freking and second baseman Drew Schmidt.
The Rams would counter with four runs in the top of the second, highlighted by run-scoring singles from Palmer and senior Mike O'Malley, to take a 6-2 lead. The Musketeers would add a run in the bottom of the second on rightfielder Bobbie Kelley's third home run of the season and climbed to within 6-4 in the fourth as Conley scored on a RBI single by McCambridge. The Rams pushed their advantage to 7-4 as Rhault opened the fifth with a triple and scored on an RBI single by Palmer, his third run-scoring hit of the afternoon.
"I have been struggling a little the past few weeks and I just tried to keep my hands back and make contact and I'm glad I was able to get things going and drive in some runs," said Palmer, who ranks second on the team in hits with 64.
"We just want to keep things going tomorrow no matter who we play and keep advancing in the tournament."
URI senior catcher Zach Zaneski had three hits on the afternoon while O'Malley, Rhault and Rob Deveney added two hits apiece. Greenwood evened his record at 6-6 after allowing four runs on seven hits in 6.1 innings.
Leesman allowed six runs on seven hits and fanned two as he fell to 2-6 on the year. Conley collected two hits to lead the Musketeers, who are vying for their first-ever A-10 title.
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