College Baseball
Canisius College 7, Rider University 6 (11 innings)
Canisius College 8, Rider University 2
BUFFALO, NY-The Broncs dropped a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader at first place Canisius Saturday. "We could have won the first game," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "Probably should have. We did a lot of good things in the first game."
In the second game Canisius (26-14, 10-1 MAAC) scored in the first inning on three walks and a sacrifice fly and scored five runs on seven hits in the fourth inning to take a 6-0 lead.
"Everything we did well in the first game we did not do well in the second," Davis said.
Rider freshman Adam Wayman (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) hit an RBI single in the sixth inning to break the shutout and senior Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall) hit an RBI double in the seventh inning for the final score.
Wojnowski had two of Rider's five hits in the second game and had four hits in the doubleheader.
In the first game the Golden Griffs scored in the 11th inning on a single, a sacrifice bunt, an intentional walk and an RBI single for the win.
Rider (19-17, 7-7 MAAC) tied the score at 6-6 in the top of the ninth inning when junior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) doubled, went to third on a passed ball and scored on a sacrifice fly by Wojonowski. "Steve did a good job there," Davis said. "He got on and scored a big run."
Galella had three hits and scored four runs in the first game.
In the bottom of the eighth inning Canisius took a 6-5 lead with three runs on two walks a sacrifice bunt and three hits. "Can't walk guys with a 5-3 lead in the eighth inning," Davis said.
Rider junior Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) pitched six and one-third innings, striking out four while allowing three runs and left the game with a 4-3 lead. "Mike threw fine," Davis said. "He had to battle most of the game. He put us in a situation to win the ball game."
Wayman hit a two-run single to give Rider a 5-3 lead in the seventh inning. The Broncs took a 3-2 lead in the fifth inning on a home run by Galella. "We had some good things happen today," Davis said.
Canisius tied the score at 2-2 in the fourth inning on a hit batsman, a single and a double and tied it at 3-3 in the sixth inning.
Junior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) doubled with two outs in the first inning and scored on a single by Wojnowski for a 1-0 Rider lead. Heyne extended his hitting streak to 16 games before going hitless in game two with a pair of walks. Heyne had four hits in the first game.
In the third inning Wojnowski hit another RBI single with two outs for a 2-0 lead. Wojnowski had three RBI in the first game. "Wojo hit the ball pretty good today," Davis said.
Last year Canisius won two out of three at Rider and eliminated the Broncs from the MAAC tournament before finishing runner-up.
"Canisius is good," Davis said. "We didn't come here and embarrass ourselves, but we didn't play great in the second game," Davis said. "I thought their pitchers were good. They did a good job. It is just a tough loss after we've been playing well."
Rider won four in a row and eight out of 10 before Saturday. "Our confidence is good," Davis said.
The third game of the series is scheduled for Sunday at 2pm. "The forecast is rain tonight, rain tomorrow, rain Monday," Davis said. "Our backs are against the wall so we have to find a way to play and win."
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