College Baseball
Rider University 2, Longwood University 0
FARMVILLE, VA--The Broncs defeated Longwood Friday afternoon in the first game of a four-game series. With the win Rider (7-7) gets back to .500. "It's nice to be back at .500," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "Hopefully we're going to stretch that and stay above that the rest of the way."
Junior Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) pitched seven and one-third scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out six, for his team-high second win of the season and the 13th of his career. "Mike threw a great game," Davis said. "I think they only got one runner to second base on him all day. He did a great job."
Rider scored two runs in the fourth inning on an RBI single by junior Karl Johnston (Hamilton/Peddie) and a sacrifice fly by junior A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area). "Karl got a couple of big hits," Davis said.
Freshman Adam Wayman (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) had three of Rider's 13 hits. "He had three good hits," Davis said, "and he played a solid third base."
Johnston, Albee, sophomore Brandon Cotten (Wiconisco, Pa./Williams Valley) and junior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) all had two hits for Rider.
Freshman Mike Murphy (Hamilton/Peddie) pitched a one-two-three ninth inning for his first collegiate save. "Murphy got a fly ball, a strike out and a weak ground ball out," Davis said.
Freshman pitcher Tyler Smith (Westmont/Haddon Twp.) entered the game in the eighth inning and got a ground ball double play to end the inning. "They had a little rally going but (junior John) Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) turned a great double play," Davis said. "Smith got us to Murphy, our closer. Smith and Murphy did a good job. Two runs normally isn't going to get you a win."
Longwood (8-6) was held to five hits. "They're a scrappy team," Davis said of Longwood. "We had never beaten them before and that's because they are pretty good. We have to play well to beat them."
Senior Matt McCollum (Tabernacle/Shawnee) and senior Eric Woodrow (Hamilton/Hamilton West) also collected hits for the Broncs, who had never defeated Longwood (0-3) before.
The Broncs take on Longwood in a doubleheader Saturday afternoon. "Hopefully tomorrow we'll come out and swing the bats a little better," Davis said. "We got 13 hits today but didn't bunch any together except for the fourth inning. We need to do a better job of that tomorrow."
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