College Baseball
Rider University 8, Seton Hall University 7
LAWRENCEVILLE--Freshman Chris LeRoy (Freehold/Colts Neck) pitched five and one-third scoreless innings of relief to lead Rider to victory over Seton Hall Tuesday. "Today was a good day," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "This was a good solid win. I thought the key to the game was Chris LeRoy. He allowed us to get back into the game."
Seton Hall (13-16) led 6-1 when LeRoy entered the game and the rookie right-hander held the Pirates scoreless, allowing just two hits and two walks while striking out one, improving to 2-0.
"He came in and got us out of the inning (five-run third inning) and threw shutout baseball," Davis said.
For Rider (15-14) junior John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) had three hits, including an RBI single in the sixth inning that gave the Broncs an 8-6 lead. "Ralston got a big hit for us," Davis said. "He had a good day today, at the plate and in the field. We played solid defense today."
Junior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) had two hits and three RBI, including an RBI single that tied the score at 6-6 in the fourth inning. "I wanted to see as many pitches as I could," Heyne said. "He looked pretty good from the dugout. When I got in the box he threw me three different pitches. He threw me a cutter that I hadn't seen much of this year. I just stuck the bat out. It was a ball but I had to fight it off."
Heyne extended his hitting streak to 10 games. "I'm seeing the ball well right now," said Heyne, who now has 155 career hits, 35th most ever at Rider.
Freshman Ian Lindsay (Oaklyn/Haddon Twp.) hit his first collegiate home run to give Rider a 7-6 lead in the fifth inning. "I got a fastball down," Lindsay remembered about his first home run. "I was looking to jump on the first fastball I could and it just happened to go out."
"Lindsay's home run was big," Davis said.
Junior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) had two of Rider's eight hits, including a two-run single in the fourth inning that cut the lead to 6-5.
Freshman Tyler Smith (Westmont/Haddon Twp.) pitched the ninth inning for his third save. "I like the way we came back, like the way we battled and I like the way we closed the door," Davis said.
This game was originally scheduled for March 30 but was rained out.
Rider travels to Monmouth for a 3:30 pm game Wednesday. "We haven't won there since I've been here," said Davis, now in his sixth year, "so hopefully we can do that Wednesday."
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