The University of Rhode Island baseball team swept its way through the Atlantic 10 Conference Championship in Tysons, Virginia last week, securing the third conference title in program history.

Following a 22-8 record in conference play, Rhode Island entered as the regular season champion and top seed in the tournament. Pitching led the way in the Rams’ three games, only needing to use two bullpen arms with starters allowing just six runs across the tournament. Standout relievers, second-year closer Joe Sabbath and first-year Parker Aikens, combined for 7.2 scoreless innings.

“Getting the number one seed was super important, and we really wanted that,” Rhode Island Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “It just really gives you the opportunity to rest pitchers, and not that I don’t trust other guys, but those were our hottest bullpen arms.”

Rhody’s No. 1 seed came with the tournament’s only first-round bye, allowing fifth-year ace Trystan Levesque to pitch against No. 4 Davidson College on May 21.

Levesque left it all on the mound, throwing a season-high 122 pitches in 8.1 innings of work. He fanned 10 batters to surpass 300 career strikeouts, allowing three runs with just one of those being earned. 

Run support came from a five-run fourth inning. After an RBI single by fifth-year Nic Notarangelo got Rhody on the board, the Rams loaded the bases as the lineup flipped over for fourth-year home run king Anthony DePino.

DePino delivered, clobbering a grand slam to left field for a 5-3 lead. 

“You obviously need talent to win a tournament, but there’s a lot of luck in baseball,” Cerrato said. “I know they didn’t want to pitch to him, but they had no option, and he had the biggest hit of the entire tournament.”

DePino’s 19th homer of the season moved him into a tie for the Rhody single-season home run record, and provided the last of the game’s scoring.

“That moment right there probably ranks up there at No. 1,” DePino said. “The past three years, I haven’t really done much in the tournament, haven’t made noise. Being able to go in there as the one seed, having all the confidence in the world, and just going up there and doing what I know I could do.”

Sixth-year DJ Perron got the Rams on the board first against No. 3 Saint Louis University in the semifinals on Friday, May 23, drilling a two-run home run in the fourth inning.

Third-year starter Jeremy Urena worked into the seventh on the mound. After recording the first two outs of the inning, Urena’s first walk of the game wrapped up his day after allowing two runs. He exited in a tied game, with Aikens striking out the next batter to keep the game tied.

Notarangelo untied the game in the eighth with another two-run shot, and URI added four more runs in the ninth to extend its lead to 8-2. Fourth-year Eric Genther and second-year Reece Moroney hit back-to-back home runs before Sabbath shut the door in the bottom half to send Rhode Island to the championship.

No. 2 George Mason University was one of two conference opponents to take a series over Rhode Island in the regular season, but the Rams got the last laugh with a 4-1 win in the conference title game. 

The Patriots worked through the loser’s bracket, playing five games, including a doubleheader the day prior to Saturday’s championship game. Rhode Island was a fresher group in just its third game. 

First-year Jake Cullen settled in after a shaky first inning, allowing one run in 4.1 innings with three walks and three strikeouts. Perron once again put Rhode Island ahead with a two-run homer in the second. 

“I didn’t really think much of it besides producing for the team,” Perron said. “I didn’t realize how leveraging they were until everything was all said and done.”

Aikens protected the lead out of the bullpen with a crucial 3.1 innings to bridge the gap to Sabbath who finished off the championship win.

Following the championship, DePino, Notarangelo, Perron and Levesque were named to the Atlantic 10 All-Championship Team. Perron was also selected as the tournament’s Most Outstanding Player. 

“I didn’t expect it to go my way,” Perron said. “Our group, we have a lot of good players on our team…1-9 are really solid; just to be able to receive that award was honestly an honor.”

With the championship, the 2025 Rams also broke the program single-season wins record of 37 set in 2009. Cerrato set the goal to break the record earlier in the season before a midweek game. Rhode Island won 11 of its last 13 games to secure the milestone.

“[Setting the goal] was just to motivate them; I didn’t know if we were capable with how many games we had left,” Cerrato said. “This is something that we all wanted; you can’t take that away. You can never take away winning the regular season, winning the conference tournament and then breaking the school record.”

The Rams received an automatic bid to the NCAA College Baseball Championship with their conference win, keeping the historic group on the field for at least two more games.

“Throughout my six years of playing college baseball across different levels, I’ve never been around such a tight-knit group of guys,” Perron said. “We’re breaking records left and right, but we’re also really close. We’re truly a family.”

The Rams gathered at the Mews Tavern on Monday to watch the NCAA Selection Show and learn where their postseason would continue. The answer? The Baton Rouge Regional, hosted by sixth-seeded Louisiana State University. 

“Our guys were super pumped for that regional,” Cerrato said. “We’ve played a lot of big-time programs since I’ve been here, [Southeastern Conference] schools, [Atlantic Coast Conference schools], but I’ve never been to LSU. That’s like the pinnacle of college baseball.”

It is the first time in program history that Rhode Island is the No. 3 seed within its regional. The Rams are 1-4 across two previous NCAA tournaments in 2005 and 2016. 

“We’re going to make some noise,” Perron said. “From our pitching to our offense to even our coaching staff, we’re going to go down there and try to shock the world.”

Aside from LSU, the Baton Rouge Regional also includes the University of Arkansas at Little Rock and Rhody’s first opponent, Dallas Baptist University. All three schools would be first-time opponents for the Rams. 

“We’re battle-tested,” DePino said. “A lot of the guys are really confident on the team; we know that we can beat anybody in the country.”

Dallas Baptist sits at 40-16, receiving an at-large bid after being eliminated in the Conference USA playoffs as the top seed. The Patriots are ranked No. 21 in Rating Percentage Index entering the postseason and 20th by D1Baseball.com. 

“We know they’re going to be good,” Cerrato said. “It’s a tough challenge, and I think our guys are going to be ready for it.”

URI’s only ranked opponent this season was No. 11 University of Oregon, as it took the series opener before dropping the next three games back in February.

The Baton Rouge Regional opens with LSU taking on Little Rock at 3 p.m. on Friday, with URI and Dallas Baptist set to follow at 7:30 p.m. The losers of the games will meet on Saturday at 2 p.m., with the winners playing at 6 p.m. All games across the regional will be broadcast on ESPN+.

The post Rams roll to first conference title since 2016 first appeared on The Good 5¢ Cigar.