College Baseball
Le Moyne College 15, Rider University 10
SYRACUSE, NY?The Broncs lost a slugfest at Le Moyne in a non-conference game Sunday, as both teams banged out 17 hits. “The wind was blowing straight out so no lead was safe today,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis.
For Rider (25-24) junior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper), freshman Carlo Petrillo (Norristown, Pa./Kennedy-Kenrick) and freshman John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) each had three hits. Petrillo and junior Maurice Williams (Ocean, N.J./Monmouth Regional) hit home runs. Williams had two hits and three RBI.
The Broncs took a 2-0 lead in the second inning on three hits, including an RBI single by sophomore Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall), but Le Moyne came right back and tied it at 2-2 in the bottom of the inning.
Rider scored twice in the fifth inning when Petrillo hit his first collegiate home run and sophomore Matt McCollum (Tabernacle, N.J./Shawnee) followed with his third home run of the season to cut the lead to 5-4. “Petrillo swung the bat today,” Davis said. “He had a good day.”
Ralston hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to cut the lead to 10-6. “We didn't give up,” Davis said. “I don't think there was a time when we felt we couldn't score.”
Rider scored four runs in the eighth inning when Williams hit a three-run home run to cut the lead to 11-10, but that was as close as the Broncs could get to the defending MAAC Champions, who now compete as an independent.”Mo had a big home run late, but we couldn't hold them,” Davis said.
Senior David Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./American Heritage) and Wojnowski each added two hits for Rider.
Rider hosts La Salle Tuesday in the final home game of the 2008 season. The Broncs travel to Saint Peter's Friday and Saturday for the final three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series of the regular season. “We would certainly like to finish strong,” Davis said. “We'll get back at it this week and hopefully make some adjustments and get some guys healthy and make a push for this thing.”
Rider is currently in fourth place in the MAAC, and hosts the four-team MAAC Championship Tournament May 22-24 at Trenton's Waterfront Park.
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