College Baseball
West Virginia University 7, Rider University 3
Rider University 12, West Virginia University 9  (13 innings)

MORGANTOWN, WV-The Broncs split a doubleheader at West Virginia Sunday, ending the four-game series with a come-from-behind win. "I like the way we battled and came back," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "We played a little better today."

In the second game, Rider (5-7) scored four runs in the top of the 13^th inning on an RBI double by senior John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI), an RBI single by junior Brandon Cotten (Wiconisco, Pa./Williams Valley), and an RBI single by freshman Nick Crescenzo (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton) and Cotten scored on a wild pitch for a 12-8 lead.

Sophomore Tyler Smith (Westmont/Haddon Twp.) pitched seven innings of relief for the win. "Tyler was outstanding," Davis said. "That's not the way you draw it up. He couldn't have gone much farther. We were running out of opportunities. He did a heck of a job."

Smith is Rider's closer who has two saves this season and compiled nine saves last year. "He held them down and gave us a chance to score and keep the game going."

Sophomore Ian Lindsay (Oaklyn/Haddon Twp.) had three of Rider's 16 hits in the second game. "Even a couple of his outs were good," Davis said. "He swung the bat."

Senior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) hit a three-run home run with two outs  in the ninth inning to tie the score at 8-8, sending the game into extra innings. "Steve had a big hit, a huge hit," Davis said. "He's pretty hot right now."

Galella is now batting .357 with 15 hits, including four home runs and three doubles in the first 12 games of the season.

Cotten hit a one-out double in the ninth inning and scored on a pinch hit RBI single by Crescenzo to cut the lead to 8-5, setting up Galella's game-tying homer.

The Broncs got on the board with an RBI double by senior A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) in the third inning and Albee scored on a sac fly by Galella to cut the lead to 4-2.

WV took a 4-0 lead in the second inning on five hits, including a pair of doubles and scored four more runs in the third inning on three hits and an error to take an 8-2 lead. "Six runs down, it didn't look too promising," Davis said. "'It was a great comeback. The bullpen did well and we got some clutch hits."

Freshman Ken Kremer (Hershey, PA/Hershey), Crescenzo, Cotton, Galella and Ralston each had two of Rider's hits in the second game. "Kremer played well today," Davis said.

Crescenzo had four hits and five RBI in the doubleheader and Kremer, Ralston and Heyne had three. "

Ralston hit an RBI double in the seventh inning to score Kremer and Ralston scored on an RBI single by Albee, cutting the lead to 8-4. "Ralston had a few hits today and played solid in the field," Davis said.

In the first game Crescenzo hit a two-run double in the fifth inning to tie the score at 3-3 and had two of Rider's six hits. "Crescenzo was our whole offense in the first game," Davis said. "He had a big day."

WV came back with four runs on four hits, including three home runs, in the bottom of the fifth inning for the final score

The Broncs cut the lead to 3-1 in the third inning when Ralston doubled and scored on a single by Crescenzo.

Senior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) also had two hits for the Broncs in the first game.

WV took a 1-0 lead in the first inning and went up 3-0 in the second inning on three hits and a Rider error.

Junior Patrick Devlin (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock North) pitched five innings, striking out three.

Rider plays at Hofstra Tuesday before hosting Quinnipiac Wednesday.

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