Rarely in life do we get a chance to re-visit and re-live institutions that help shape us as we grow up.
Wednesday night Tribe baseball Head Coach Frank Leoni stared out onto the field and saw the University of Rhode Island baseball team, a program that defined his life for 17 years.
In Leoni’s first game ever managing against the Rams, his Tribe team defeated the University of Rhode Island nine to seven in a cold game at Plumeri Park.
“It was strange, it was really strange. I’ve obviously been there for a big part of my life, a part of that institution and that program. Definitely a little odd,” Leoni said.
Leoni was a shortstop for the Rams from 1988-1991. He coached the team from 1993 to 2005, saving the baseball program from elimination after a 2-39-1 season in 1993. Under Leoni, the Rams earned an NCAA regional birth for the first time in school history in 2005 and won two A-10 regular season championships.
“I’m glad to see that they played a good ballgame,” said Leoni. “I’d love to beat everybody by twelve runs, but I’m glad to see that they competed and I think everybody played the game the right way tonight.”
The rest of the Tribe team was concentrating on the future. Freshman starter Logan Billbrough made his first start for the Tribe since Feb. 24. Billbrough, slated to be the number three starter at the beginning of the year, got the win for the Tribe by going six innings, allowing six runs on 10 hits.
“Today I was just going out, trying to throw strikes, pound the zone and pitch to contact,” said Billbrough, who walked none on the day and only went to a three-ball count on one batter.
Billbrough’s final line was inflated due to a six-run fourth inning, where he gave up a three doubles and a home run to Ram centerfielder Kenny Burns. Aside from the fourth inning, Billbrough gave up only four hits and faced a total of only 17 hitters.
“I was having a little trouble getting comfortable when I was coming into the stretch. I was leaving the ball up a little bit and they strung a couple hits together, got a couple of runs. But I was able to slow it down in the fifth and sixth, find my groove again and everything else was good from there,” said Billbrough, who said he felt only normal soreness in his arm after the game.
As has been the case all season for the Tribe, the talented but inexperienced pitching staff received plenty of support from the offense. After being held scoreless for the first three innings, the Tribe led off the fourth with back-to-back home runs from junior designated hitter Robbie Nickle and senior leftfielder Greg Maliniak.
Maliniak went three for three on the day, with a single, double and homerun. He had a chance to go for the cycle in the fifth inning but was hit by a pitch. In his last at-bat in the eighth, junior centerfielder Ben Guez was thrown out attempting to steal home on a double steal.
When asked if he knew he had a chance for the cycle, Maliniak said, “I’m not going to lie and tell you - I didn’t. But I will tell the truth and say I wasn’t going for it.”
Guez went three for five on the day with two singles and a triple. Senior catcher Tim Park and Maliniak each had two RBIs.
Tuesday’s win extends the Tribe’s win streak to five games and makes them 13 and 1 at Plumeri Park on the season. They face the University of Maryland Wednesday before heading to Wilmington for a three-game series against University of North Carolina at Wilmington this weekend.