Rhode Island Baseball Has Quietly Built One of the Best Mid-Major Programs in the Country

There is a photo somewhere of Raphael Cerrato as a URI baseball player in the early 1990s. A kid from Rhode Island who captained the Rams, earned an All-Conference nod, and walked off Bill Beck Field with no real plan for what came next. He had no idea he would one day become the program’s all-time wins leader.

“As a player, I had no idea what I wanted to do for my career,” Cerrato admits now. “It is definitely a blessing to be here. Really, no other job I would want right now.”

He has been back at URI for over a decade as head coach. The Rams are coming off the best season in program history. And if you haven’t been paying attention to college baseball in Kingston, Rhode Island, you probably should start.

127 Years of History, and a Turning Point Happening Right Now

Rhode Island baseball has been around since 1898, which makes it one of the longer-running programs in the country. But for most of that history, postseason baseball in Kingston was a rare, fleeting thing. The Rams made just two NCAA Regional appearances in over a century of play, one in 2005, one in 2016.

That makes what happened in 2025 feel even more significant. Rhode Island won the Atlantic 10 regular season title, swept through the A-10 Championship as the top seed without losing a game, set a new program record with 38 wins, and earned a No. 3 seed in the Baton Rouge Regional, the highest NCAA Tournament seed in program history. They played LSU’s home field at Alex Box Stadium in front of nearly 11,000 fans.

For a school that had spent most of its existence as a quiet mid-major in the Northeast, this was a statement.

“To get a 3 seed in the NCAA regional was a big deal for us. It is not a normal thing to get a 3 seed. It is something special for a school like us. That shows you the growth of what we can do here.” – Coach Raphael Cerrato

The Man Who Never Really Left

To understand why URI baseball is where it is, you have to understand Raphael Cerrato’s connection to this program, because it’s not the kind of connection most coaches have with their schools.

He played here. He captained here. He left, spent years building his coaching résumé at UMass, Brown, and Division II New Haven, then came back as an assistant in 2012.

He was already serving as the top assistant and recruiting coordinator when former head coach Jim Foster left for Boston College after the 2014 season. Cerrato got the interim tag in the summer of 2014, a late hire, mid-offseason, for a roster he had largely helped recruit himself.

He went 26-25-1 that first year. He got the full-time job the following season. And he has been building ever since.

“Dream job,” he said simply. “Things I want to do to continue to build it.”

The numbers back him up. Cerrato has compiled a 149-89 mark in Atlantic 10 play over his tenure, with winning conference records in nearly every season. He recently surpassed Frank Keaney, who coached the program for 26 seasons, as URI’s all-time wins leader.

“To be the all-time wins leader means a lot to me. If there is one thing I wanted as a coach, I would want to end up having the most wins.”

The Philosophy: Play the Best, Then Win Your League

One of the most distinctive things about URI baseball under Cerrato is the non-conference schedule, and it is very intentional.

While some pad their non-conference slates to boost their record heading into league play, the Rams have consistently gone on the road and played Power Conference programs.

Alabama. Texas A&M. Oregon. Florida. In 2026, they opened the season at Jacksonville, Alabama, and Kent State before coming home. It’s a philosophy Cerrato traces back to former URI head coach Jim Foster, and one he has carried forward deliberately.

“That is one of our recruiting tools. You are going to play Alabama, Texas A&M, Florida. We want to challenge ourselves, we want to take our student athletes to see different parts of the country. I want the challenge of playing the best.”

The record against those elite programs hasn’t always been pretty, Cerrato acknowledged a 0-12 stretch at one point, but the philosophy isn’t really about those individual results.

“You have to have tough kids and know that that won’t ruin your season,” he said. “You are getting better because you are playing better.”

It shows. The Rams have posted the second-best A-10 record in the conference over the past two seasons. Beating up on mid-tier competition might look better in the win column, but it doesn’t prepare a team for what postseason baseball actually feels like.

Cerrato wants his guys already knowing what it’s like to play in a loud, difficult environment by the time they get there.

There’s also a practical reason for the approach: guarantee money. Programs like URI get paid to travel to Power Conference venues, and those funds matter when you don’t have the resources of a Florida State or a Texas.

What 36 Runs in Game Two Told Cerrato About His 2025 Team

The 2025 season didn’t just appear out of nowhere. Rhode Island had missed the playoffs entirely in 2024, a down year that made last season’s turnaround all the more striking. But Cerrato said he saw the signs early. Very early.

“Scoring 36 runs in the second game of the season — that was definitely an indicator. That’s when it first hit that our offense has the chance to be something special. If we could just pitch slightly above average, I knew we could be a really special team.”

The 2025 Rams proceeded to set program records in wins, runs scored, hits, home runs, stolen bases, and fielding percentage.

They went 3-0 through the toughest possible path in the A-10 Championship, facing the No. 2, No. 3, and No. 4 seeds, with DJ Perron earning tournament Most Outstanding Player honors after hitting two home runs in the championship round. Closer Joe Sabbath became briefly internet-famous for his celebration after the final out of the title game.

Then came Baton Rouge, where URI competed in the NCAA Regional at LSU’s Alex Box Stadium in front of nearly 11,000 fans. For a program with just two previous tournament appearances in its entire history, just being there was proof the program had arrived at a new level.

Recruiting New England (and Beyond) Without the Big Budget

Getting talent to Rhode Island takes a different pitch than what programs in warmer climates with bigger facilities give. Cerrato knows this and doesn’t try to pretend otherwise.

“You are trying to recruit kids who are high-level kids,” he said. “Selling point for us is you have a chance to start as a freshman. Playing and developing. Playing time situation. You have a chance to win a championship every single year.”

URI’s academic reputation has grown meaningfully in recent years, which helps. But Cerrato’s pitch is ultimately about something simpler: come here, play real baseball, get developed, and have fun doing it.

“We want to have fun doing it. If we are not having fun doing this, than what are we doing? You really want to find kids who love baseball. If you don’t love baseball and you don’t love playing and competing, don’t come here.”

He also has a track record of getting players to the next level, which carries real weight in a recruiting conversation with a kid who has professional aspirations.

2026: Defending Champions, Grinding Through a Hard Year

The 2026 season has been a grind. That is honest and worth saying. Rhode Island opened the year with a tough road swing at Jacksonville and Alabama, part of that deliberate non-conference philosophy, and the early results weren’t always there.

Through May, the Rams sit at 22-27 overall but 15-12 in A-10 play, competitive enough in conference, battling through the kind of difficult non-conference stretch that comes with the territory.

They entered the season as defending A-10 champions, with a target on their back and a schedule built for growth rather than comfort. The A-10 Tournament, where only six teams earn a bid, remains the singular focus.

“That is all our focus,” Cerrato said. “Go have fun, compete at our best, and if we compete and play to our ability, we are going to give everything we got.”

Blue Collar, Loose, and Looking Toward a Super Regional

When Cerrato is asked to define what Rhode Island baseball actually is, the identity, the DNA, he doesn’t reach for anything complicated.

“Blue collar,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of things that other programs have. It’s blue collar, but loose and fun. You watch our practices and coaches and how they interact with our players, guys are just enjoying themselves.”

He talks about players looking forward to the weight room not because they have to be there, but because they genuinely want to be around their teammates and coaches. That culture, he believes, is what drives the on-field results.

“Having a culture of going out there and having fun and busting your butt every single day, it helps you win. Blue collar, gritty, and fun.”

As for where the ceiling is? Cerrato doesn’t think the program has reached it.

“Going to a super regional. It is that simple,” he said. “If you get to a super regional, anything can happen. The ultimate goal is to win a regional championship.”

For a program that spent the better part of 127 years making the NCAA Tournament twice, this is not small thinking. But Rhode Island baseball has earned the right to think this way. They are building something real in Kingston, blue collar, grinding, and genuinely fun to watch.

And the coach who never really left is just getting started.