College Baseball
East Tennessee State University 8, Rider University 7
JOHNSON CITY, TN?The Broncs lost in the bottom of the ninth inning Friday to ETSU. “It's a tough loss because we held the lead,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis, “but we kept battling back and showed some heart. I think we have a chance to be pretty good.”
The Buccaneers (4-1) tied the score at 7-7 in the ninth inning on an RBI double and with a runner on third and no outs Rider intentionally walked the bases loaded before an RBI single ended the game. “It's a loss,” Davis said, “but we didn't think we were going to go undefeated anyway.”
Rider (2-1) junior Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall) made his first start in left field this year after 13 starts in right field last season and hit a solo home run with two outs in the eighth inning to give the Broncs a 7-6 lead. “Wojo had a big hit to put us up,” Davis said. “It turned out to be a good decision to start him. He had two hits, scored two runs, walked. That's a good day.”
Sophomore A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) hit his first career home run, a three run shot, to give Rider a 6-5 lead in the sixth inning. Wojnowski and sophomore John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) collected two-out singles and scored on Albee's bomb. “A.J. had a big hit,” Davis said. “He's got power. He's a pretty good player that no one knows because he didn't play a lot last year. We've known that he has the capabilities of playing at that level.”
ETSU tied the score at 6-6 in the bottom of the sixth inning with a run on two hits and an error. ETSU scored four runs in the fifth inning on four hits and an error to take a 5-3 lead. “The inning that hurt us was the fifth,” Davis said. “We made an error with one out and nobody on, and they end up scoring four.”
Senior Sean Olson (Vineland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) hit a home run to lead off the fourth inning, tying the score at 1-1. The home run was the 19th of his career, tenth highest ever at Rider. Olson had two of Rider's eight hits. “I thought Olson swung the bat well,” Davis said.
Senior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) led off the first inning with a single, his 209th career hit, third highest ever at Rider, passing former career hit leader and major leaguer Ed Whited (208).
The Broncs took a 3-1 lead in the fifth inning when junior Matt McCollum (Tabernacle, N.J./Shawnee) singled and scored on an error and Hayes walked and scored on a single by Olson. “We took the lead but East Tennessee did a great job bouncing back,” Davis said. “They deserve some credit.”
Senior Jimmer Kennedy (Levittown, Pa./Holy Ghost Prep) started and pitched four and one-third innings and struck out two, while allowing four earned runs.
Sophomore Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) recorded three strike outs in an inning of relief work. Thomas came in and struck out the number four and number five hitters to put the fire out in the fifth inning. “Thomas came in and did the job,” Davis said. “He got out of that inning and didn't walk anybody.”
Senior Mike Petrowski (Hamilton Square, N.J./Steinert) struck out three in two and two-third innings.
ETSU manufactured a run in the first inning with an infield hit, a ground out, a stolen base and a sacrifice fly.
Friday's game was the first of a four-game series, which includes a 12 noon doubleheader Saturday and a 1pm game Sunday. “If we can keep the rain away and get all of these games in it should be a great series,” Davis said.
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