First-year pitcher Jake Cullen entered the starting rotation following a stellar outing in a midweek game; now he spends his weekdays in the dugout with his eyes set on his weekend starts.

Taking advantage of opportunities early in his career, Cullen impressed with three shutout innings alongside seven strikeouts against Sacred Heart University in relief on March 4.

With third-year pitcher Evan Maloney out for the season following an injury in his second start on Feb. 22, the third spot in the Rams’ rotation had been a carousel to begin the year. Now the ride has come to a stop with Cullen, and his performances have shown that he does not plan to relinquish the role anytime soon.

“He’s certainly earned it, he’s had three really good outings right in a row,” Rhode Island Head Coach Raphael Cerrato said. “He’s pitching with confidence, his stuff is really good; there’s no reason to change it right now.”

In his first start on March 9, Cullen delivered five scoreless innings against Eastern Kentucky University. He struck out six batters while walking two and only allowing one hit.

“We do all of the work off the field, so when that happens, you’re obviously hyped,” Cullen said. “That was probably one of the best outings I’ve had in a minute.”

For this performance, he was awarded Atlantic 10 Conference Pitcher of the Week on March 11, marking back-to-back weeks that Rhode Island had received the honor. Before Cullen, it was fifth-year Trystan Levesque, someone who has made over 40 starts in his career with the Rams.

“It helps when there’s a lot of seniors that have so much experience like Trystan,” Cullen said. “I ask him questions all the time, just about what I should be doing, what I should be eating, [how much] sleep, just about everything, trying to stay consistent.”

Cullen carried his momentum into conference play as Rhody swept their opening weekend against Virginia Commonwealth University, where he added another five innings that brought him his second win in as many starts.

“I just go back to high school; I’m just playing baseball at the end of the day,” Cullen said. “Get outs for the team, win for the team, it’s awesome, man. It’s an honor, really.”

In high school, Cullen was the starting quarterback for Westford Academy in the fall and a class of 2024 Perfect Game top-10 baseball prospect in Massachusetts at the time of his commitment to URI.

He finished within Perfect Game’s top 400 nationally by the end of his senior year and had drawn interest from other programs, including Northeastern University, before deciding on Kingston for a variety of reasons.

“The people, area, coaches, just about everything [made me choose URI],” Cullen said. “This place is awesome.”

After four relief appearances to start his collegiate career, Cullen has made his way into the weekend rotation. Free of having to be prepared at all times to contribute out of the bullpen, midweek games look very different.

“It’s all preparation for the next time you pitch on that mound now,” Cullen said.

In his third start of the season this past Sunday, Cullen went 4.2 innings, allowing two runs with five strikeouts. He left the game tied 2-2, but URI went on to lose the rubber match against George Washington University.

Rhode Island returns to conference play this weekend with three games against the University of Massachusetts. Cullen is set to start the series finale on Sunday at noon in Amherst.

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