College Baseball
Rider University 10, Iona College 8
LAWRENCEVILLE?Sophomore Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) hit a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Rider a come-from-behind Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Iona Friday afternoon. “We found a way to win, and that's a good sign,' said Rider head coach Barry Davis.
Heyne, a Freshman All-American last year, hit a solo home run in the second inning to lead off a 10-batter, four-run, three-hit inning, as Rider (7-9, 3-1 MAAC) took a 4-1 lead. Heyne had five RBI on the day. Heyne now has five home runs this season and 11 for his young career. “That was nice to see,” said Davis. “Mason has been struggling a bit, but he had a good day today.”
“I've been struggling lately, but today I saw the ball pretty good,” said Heyne, who earned MAAC All-Tournament team honors last season and was named to the New Jersey All-Rookie team after batting .332 with 63 hits in 52 games. “I've been working hard in the cages trying to get back into the swing of things, so to say. Today I felt good. I've been hitting the ball hard but right at people.”
The only people Heyne was hitting the ball at Friday were the fans beyond the outfield fence. “In the ninth inning I was just trying to hit a ball in the gap and score the runner,” Heyne said. “I knew he was going to give me a fastball after issuing a four-pitch walk. He threw it middle in and I didn't even feel it hit the bat.”
Junior Kris Brown (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) pitched three scoreless, hitless innings and sophomore Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) earned the win, pitching a scoreless, hitless ninth inning. Brown and Thomas each struck out two without allowing a walk. “Brown did a great job keeping us in the game,” Davis said.
Iona (0-18, 0-4 MAAC) cut the lead to 5-3 in the fourth inning and exploded for five runs in the fifth inning on a pair of home runs to take an 8-6 lead. “Iona did a good job of getting into good hitting counts,” Davis said. “The bomb to centerfield was on a 3-0 count.”
Rider senior Mike Petrowski (Hamilton Square, N.J./Steinert) started and struck out four without allowing a walk in five innings. “I thought he was going to get out of trouble in the fifth inning,” Davis said. “It didn't work out that way, but overall I guess it worked out.”
Petrowski was the MAAC Pitcher of the Week last week for his nine-inning complete game MAAC victory at Niagara.
Junior Matt McCollum (Tabernacle, N.J./Shawnee) singled his first two times up and ran his streak to six consecutive hits before grounding into a fielder's choice.
Senior Sean Olson (Vineland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) had two hits for the Broncs, including a single to lead off the ninth inning. “That was a big, two-strike hit by Olson,” Davis said.
The Broncs won despite leaving 16 runners on base. “You don't win many games doing that,” Davis said.
Rider and Iona will play a doubleheader Saturday beginning at 11 am. “I thought Iona played really well for a team that hasn't won a game yet,” Davis said. “They certainly don't play like a winless team. They had Marist on the ropes last week and us today, so we've got a tough day tomorrow.”
“We're coming out tomorrow and we won't take them lightly,” Heyne said. “They have to be the toughest 0-18 team we'll play. They play hard and give everybody a good game.”
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