College Baseball
Rider University 10, Temple University 8 (10 inn.)
LAWRENCEVILLE--Senior Sean Olson (Vineland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) hit a two-run home run in the bottom of the tenth inning to give Rider a come-from-behind win over Temple Wednesday. “We were able to take advantage of some opportunities,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “That was a big hit by Olson.”
“He gave me a hanging slider and I hit it foul,” said Olson,. who now has 140 career RBI, two shy of third highest ever at Rider, and 23 home runs, seventh most ever at Rider. “I turned to the umpire and said ?I guess I just missed my only good chance.' Then he threw another slider and I put a good swing on it.”
Junior Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall) hit a three-run, pinch-hit double with two outs and two strikes in the ninth inning, tying the score at 8-8. The double capped a six-run ninth inning. “We got a huge hit from Wojnowski,” Davis said, “with two strikes. Wojo is hitting .333 so he was the guy I wanted up in that situation.”
“I was looking fastball first pitch and I took a curve for a strike,” Wojnowski remembered of his only at bat of the game. “The second pitch was another curve that I didn't want to swing at but I did. I foul tipped another curve and then he threw a fastball on the outside part of the plate that I was able to drive into the gap. It felt good, not just hitting the ball but coming in off the bench, knowing Coach trusted me in that situation.”
“Wojo's hit was huge,” Olson said. “When he walked up to the plate I said he was going to hit a walk-off right here. He got down 0-2 and everybody got a little nervous but he still got a good pitch and drove it to right field. No bigger hit than that today.”
Except for maybe your hit, Sean.
The victory puts Rider (13-12) over the .500 mark for the first time since March 7 when the Broncs were 3-2.
Rider has now won six of the last eight games and 10 of the 14 games north of the Mason Dixon line.
Junior Kris Brown (Vineland, N.J./Vineland) pitched two innings of shut out relief, allowing just two hits and striking out one to record the win, improving to 2-0 on the season. “I thought Brown did a good job,” Davis said.
Temple (13-15) built a 5-0 lead before Rider got on the board in the fourth inning when Olson doubled and scored on a single by senior Maurice Williams (Tinton Falls, N.J./Monmouth Regional). Olson had three hits and three RBI on the day, while Williams had two RBI. Olson leads the team in hits with 34.
Rider trailed 8-1 before scoring a run in the eighth inning when sophomore Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) tripled and scored on a single by sophomore Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial). Galella had two hits and two RBI.
Senior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) and freshman Brandon Cotten (Wiconisco, Pa./Williams Valley) also contributed two hits each. “I think Cotten is going to be pretty good,” Davis said.
In the Rider ninth inning Hayes walked and sophomore A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) was hit by a pitch. Olson hit an RBI single, Heyne singled, Galella hit an RBI single and Williams hit a sacrifice fly, setting up Wojnowski for the game-tying hit. “Our hitting is always going to come around, eventually,” Olson said. “Our line up and our hitting are just too solid to be shut down for a long period of time. Around the fifth inning Coach said ?we're going to start scoring,' and it came a little later than expected but better late than never.”
The Broncs travel to Poughkeepsie Saturday to take on conference-rival Marist in a 12 noon doubleheader. Rider and Marist are currently tied for third place in the MAAC at 5-4 behind Manhattan (8-1) and Niagara (6-3). “Hopefully we'll be better the next time we play,” Davis said.
-ru-
