MAAC Baseball Tournament
Rider University 10, Marist College 7
FISHKILL, NY-His teammates call him 'Cheese' because he is always smiling.
Senior Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, Md./Calvert Hall) had plenty to smile about Wednesday night, hitting two home runs to lead Rider to victory over host Marist in the first round of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championship tournament.
"It is huge to win the first game of the tournament," said Wojnowski, a Second Team All-MAAC selection.
"Nick's a hard worker so it was nice to see him do well tonight," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "One home run tied the game and the other gave us the four-run lead we needed."
Rider (34-21), the third seed, will now play the top seed, Canisius (38-19), Thursday at 7pm. Canisius beat Manhattan 7-5 in the other first round game. "Canisius is good," Davis said, " but I think we're playing well. We're going to give them everything we have."
The win was the eighth in a row for Rider and the 14th win in the last 15 games.
Canisius swept the three-game series with Rider this season. "We owe Canisius one," Wojnowski said. "We're going to play hard tomorrow and hopefully get that win."
Wojnowski hit his team-high ninth home run of the season, his second of the game, to give Rider a 10-6 lead in the eighth inning. "It was an 0-1 count and he threw one right down the middle," said Wojnowski, Rider's leading hitter, coming into the tournament with a .399 batting average. "He missed his spot." Wojnowski did not miss the pitch, hitting it to dead center, over the 425 foot sign.
Wojnowski led off the fifth inning with a home run to tie the score at 6-6. "It was a fastball, in," said Wojnowski, who now has 13 career home runs. "My approach is almost always look fastball and react if it is not a fastball. That was one, I dropped the bat head and it flew."
"That was a huge hit by Nick to tie the game," Davis said.
Sophomore Brandon Cotten (Wiconisco, Pa./Williams Valley) hit a two-run single, his third hit of the game, that gave the Broncs an 8-6 lead. "Cotten hit the ball hard all night," Davis said.
Junior Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston), the MAAC Pitcher of the Year, pitched seven and one-third innings, allowing nine hits while striking out three and walked a season-high five, leaving the game with a 10-7 lead.
"Being the Pitcher of the Year, maybe he put too much pressure on himself," Davis said. "It was the hottest game (94 degrees) of the season and he didn't have his best command. And Marist is good. They battled. They put the ball in play."
"The rest of the team really picked me up tonight," said Thomas, who improves to 9-2 on the season, one win shy of the Rider single-season record. "My teammates had faith in me, even when I was losing faith, and they got me through this game. Our outfielders ran down some balls, our infielders turned some great double plays. The important thing is we won. I could have given up 15 runs and still be happy if we scored 16."
Thomas now owns a career record of 20-8, the fifth best career mark ever at Rider. He set Rider single-season records for strikeouts (94, old record 91) and innings pitched (97.2, old record 96.2).
Freshman Tyler Smith (Westmont/Haddon Twp.) pitched the final inning and two-thirds for the save, his eighth. "Smith did a great job," Davis said. "He didn't throw a lot of pitches."
Junior A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) led off the sixth inning with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error to give Rider a 9-6 lead. Albee scored two runs to give him 58 for the season, a new Rider record.
Marist (33-21), the second seed and defending MAAC Champions, took a 6-5 lead with five runs in the second inning on three hits, including a three-run triple, a pair of costly walks and a hit batsman. "They did a great job getting back into the game," Davis said of the Red Foxes.
The Broncs jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first on three hits, two hit batsmen, two walks and an error. The biggest hit of the inning was a two-run single by junior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) that gave Rider a 2-0 lead.
Junior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) had two hits for the Broncs.
Rider defeated Marist two out of three games this season. Marist holds a 36-27 lead in the all-time series that began in 1992.
The Broncs and Red Foxes were Northeast Conference foes for five seasons before both institutions moved from the NEC to the MAAC in 1997.
Before switching conferences Marist won the NEC Championship in 1997, ending Rider's three-year reign as Conference Champion.
Since both teams moved to the MAAC in 1998, Marist won conference titles in 2000, 2001, 2002, 2005 and 2009.
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