College Baseball
Rider University 13, George Mason University 6
FAIRFAX, VA?His teammates call him ?Cheese' because he always seems to be smiling. Junior Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall) was doing plenty of smiling Wednesday evening after leading Rider to victory over 28th ranked George Mason. “That's a big win,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “Mason is a very good team. We've played some good teams but I don't think we've beaten a team that is ranked in the top 30 since I've been here.”
Wojnowski, who has started just 19 games this season, had four RBI Wednesday, hitting a double and a home run to lead the Broncs. “He got an opportunity to get into a game and got two big hits for us,” Davis said.
Rider (20-17) broke open a 2-1 game with a five-run sixth inning. “We put some hits together that inning,” Davis said.
In the sixth, senior Sean Olson (Vineland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) hit an RBI single to give Rider a 3-1 lead, sophomore Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) followed with an infield RBI single and sophomore Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) hit an RBI single. Wojnowski drew a bases loaded, full count walk and junior Darron Lattomus (Remington, Va./West Springfield) hit an RBI single for a 7-1 Rider lead.
“They had to throw us out at the plate to get out of the inning,” Davis said.
Mason (35-9), currently the winningest team in Division I, scored two runs in the sixth inning and three in the seventh to cut the lead to 7-6. “Being the team that they are, they have pretty good hitters, it didn't take them long to get those five runs back,” Davis said.
Mason is now 22-2 at home this year after giving up a season-high 13 runs at Spuhler Field. North Carolina and Virginia also have 35 wins but Mason has fewer losses.
Sophomore Nate Eppley (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern), making his team-high 17th appearance of the season, pitched three and two-thirds innings of relief, allowing two earned runs for the victory, his second of the year. Eppley is now 3-0 in his Rider career. “Eppley threw great,” Davis said. “He came in and threw a double play ball to get us out of a jam and probably stabilized the game. He got us deep into the game and gave our offense a chance.”
Wojnowski hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning to give Rider a 10-6 lead. “That was a big hit,” Davis said. “That took us from a 7-6 lead to a 10-6 lead.”
Sophomore A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) hit a two-run double in the ninth inning to give Rider a 13-6 lead. “A.J. came up with a big hit for us,” Davis said. “That broke it open.”
Albee singled in the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak to eight games. Heyne singled in the first inning, also extending his hitting streak to eight games.
Senior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) doubled and eventually scored on a wild pitch to give Rider an 11-6 lead. Hayes pitched one and one-third innings for the save, his sixth of the season and the 32nd of his career. Hayes had three of Rider's 14 hits and stole a pair of bases. Hayes is the Rider career leader in stolen bases, now with 92, and his 249 career hits is third most ever at Rider, 11 shy of second.
Senior Derek Caldwell (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury), making his first appearance since April 13, started and pitched two and one-third innings, striking out two while walking two, giving up two hits and no earned runs. “Derek threw fine,” Davis said. “He's been out with an elbow injury and he hurt it again,” Davis said. “Up until then he was throwing great.”
Rider took a 2-1 lead in the third inning when Wojnowski doubled, was sacrificed to third and scored on a ground ball out by Hayes. The Broncs manufactured a run in the first inning when Hayes singled and stole second, advanced to third on a ground ball to the right side and scored on Olson's sacrifice fly. Mason came right back and scored an unearned run in the first to tie the score at 1-1.
Olson now has 48 RBI on the season, nine shy of Rider's single season record, and he now has 158 career RBI, six shy of the Bronc record.
Rider travels to Long Island to take on Stony Brook in a doubleheader Saturday. “We've got to keep playing well,” Davis said. “Hopefully this win will do something for us.”
The win didn't do that much for Wojnowski. He was probably already smiling.
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