Gameday (x2)! The Spiders (21-7, 4-5 A10) head north to take on Rhode Island (16-12, 6-3), and the series has been slightly modified, and we will play two games today, with the second game being available to stream on ESPN+. Here are the Richmond probable starters, per game notes; you will notice the change:
- Friday, Noon ET: Esteban Rodriguez (24 IP, 1-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.46 WHIP, 21 K/12 BB, .247 BAA)
- Friday, 3PM: Gerry Peacock (16 IP, 2-0, 4.50 ERA, 1.25 WHIP, 12 K/6 BB, .246 BAA)
- Sunday, Noon: TBD
Rhode Island will be a good test for the Spiders as we turn the calendar to April, and hopefully leave the stale end of March in the rear-view mirror. URI also had an interesting end to the month, dropping a home series to GW (3/21-3/23), followed by a mid-week loss vs Quinnipiac, taking a series at UMass, and most recently winning an extra-innings mid-week game at Boston College on Wednesday.
The Rams are a solid offensive team, slashing .307/.431/.506 on the season. They are third in the A10 in the A10 in home runs (38), and also possess some speed in the lineup, as they are super aggressive on the basepaths (1st in the A10 in triples with 15, and 4th in stolen bases with 62, albeit with a ~73% success rate). They have a couple of potent power bats in the lineup (Jack Hopko and DJ Perron each have 6 home runs and 36 RBIs) but the real name to watch in this lineup is
Anthony DePino, Senior 3B. He was named A10 Co-Player of the week on March 5, but has also received some National recognition, being named fifth-best third baseman in Division I Baseball's midseason rankings last week, and was the top Mid-Major name. He is URI's career home runs leader, and earlier this season, he recorded a 14 game hitting streak. He is having his most impressive season this campaign, and his average is over .400 and has an OPS of 1.400. He can also steal some bags too, as he is 10-13 on the season in that regard.
The Rhode Island pitching staff has had an average season, though are pitching much better in conference play, with a staff ERA under 5.00 and a Batting average against of .236. One of the starters we should see this weekend is
Trystan Levesque, a Grad Student LHP who has been with the team since 2021. After a season ending injury 2 starts in last year, he has followed up his 2023 campaign (100+ strikeout, 4.01 ERA) with an up and down in 2025. He was named A10 Co-Pitcher of the Week on 2/24 after his 10 innings of scoreless ball with 9 strikeouts against Oregon (in a 1-0 loss, brutal). He has had three starts of less than 5 IP and 4+ ER, but in his last two A10 starts against GW and UMass has pitched a combined 11 innings, with 2 ER, 8 hits, 5 BB and 9 Ks. The other two starters
should be Junior Jeremy Urena and Freshman Jake Cullen. The latter has lowered his season ERA from 19.29 to 4.78 in his last five starts over 21.2 innings.
A series win would do wonders for a team desperate for a quick turnaround. I think you can get away with only taking 1 here on a road series, but then you put yourself in a position to need a sweep at home the following week against a weak UMass team.