College Baseball
Rider University 7, University of Maine 2
Rider University 9, University of Maine 2
LAWRENCEVILLE--The Broncs swept a doubleheader with Maine Saturday for their sixth straight win.
"If you get starting pitching and are able to keep a team down like that, you should always be in the ball game," said head coach Barry Davis. "I thought (Pat) Devlin was outstanding in the first game and (Nate) Eppley did well in the second game."
In the first game, junior Patrick Devlin (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock North) pitched a three-hitter, striking out five.
"My arm felt good today," said Devlin who notched his 12th career win. "I just went out there and threw strikes, worked both sides of the plate and kept the ball down."
Freshman Nick Crescenzo (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton) hit an RBI double in the third inning to give Rider a 4-0 lead and scored on an error to give Rider a 6-0 lead.
"Crescenzo did well," said Davis. "Our team isn't just one guy, we've had a lot of different players step up in important situations."
Junior Brandon Cotten (Wiconisco, Pa./Williams Valley hit an RBI double in the sixth inning to give Rider a 7-1 lead.
"I've been hitting the ball hard but it has been right at someone," Cotten said. "I got a few bloop hits today and found some holes. I was able to get on base, do some things and score some runs. As a team, we did really well."
"Cotten is starting to hit the ball the other way," said Davis. "That created some things for us. He has had a couple good games for us this week."
The Broncs took a 3-0 lead in the first inning on sacrifice flies by senior Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) and senior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) and a Maine error.
"The first inning runs were huge," Devlin said. "You always want to score first and in a seven inning game you want as many runs as possible because the game goes by quick. I was just getting ahead with my fastball and in the third or fourth inning, I found the feel for my breaking ball."
"We got some separation," Davis said. "In some of the games that we have won, we've been kind of hanging on. Today, we got some good situational hitting and were able to build the lead. That allowed the pitchers to relax and throw strikes. That made the starters comfortable. You pitch different with a three-run lead than if it is tied or a one-run game."
Galella scored on a wild pitch in the third inning for his 100th career run scored.
Maine (5-15) got on the board with a solo home run in the fifth inning, breaking up Devlin's no-hitter.
Sophomore Ian Lindsay (Oaklyn/Haddon Twp.) and senior A.J. Albee (Ashley, Pa./Hanover Area) each had two of Rider's eight hits.
In the second game, Albee hit a two-run double in the fourth inning to give Rider (10-7) a 4-2 lead and Crescenzo hit an RBI single for a 5-2 lead. Albee and Crescenzo each had two hits in the second game.
"A.J. comes up in a lot of important situations and he has done well," said Davis. "That is what you want from your number three hitter. He gets on base, drives runs in and the guys behind him get him around to score. He hits the ball to left, to right and is tough with two strikes. He can bunt and he runs the bases well. It is nice to have a guy like that."
"Any time I'm up, I'm looking to get on base," Albee said. "I'm looking to drive in the guys in front of me and the guys behind me are looking to drive me in. My main goal is to get on any way I can."
Rider scored four more runs in the sixth inning on five hits, two walks and a Maine error to take a 9-2 lead.
"The second game was not indicative of the score," Davis said. "The game was a lot closer."
Maine tied the score at 1-1 in the second inning on an error, a wild pitch and an RBI ground out and took a 2-1 lead in the fourth on a hit by pitch, a walk and a single.
The Broncs took a 1-0 lead in the first inning when Cotten led off with a single, stole second and scored on an RBI single by Heyne.
Cotten had three of Rider's 13 hits in game two.
Senior pitcher Nate Eppley (Dillsburg, Pa./Northern) started and went six innings, allowing one earned run on two hits while striking out one to improve to 2-2 on the season and 6-4 for his career.
"I wanted to throw strikes and let them put the ball in play," Eppley said. "My defense stepped up for me. Maine kept battling. My fastball was running and diving a little bit so they kept hitting a lot of ground balls and the defense made the plays."
"The pitchers threw strikes," said Cotten. "That was a big thing today. They battled, we played pretty solid defense behind them and when we needed to make plays, we did."
"The pitchers really kept us in both games," Albee added. "We only gave up five hits in two games. That's pretty good pitching against a quality team."
Senior John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI) added a pair of hits in game two.
The fourth and final game of the series will be played Sunday at 12 noon.
"We want to keep our foot on the pedal," Davis said about the chance to sweep the series. "We want to continue to improve and play well. There are certain things that we need to do better. Maine is going to come out ready to play. We have an experienced group and I am relying on that leadership to keep us doing well."
"Sweeping the series would be really big for us," Eppley added. "That will get us back on the right track and hopefully we will come out tomorrow with the same intensity that we had the last three games."
Rider last swept a four-game series at Maryland Eastern Shore to start the 2010 season.
The Broncs had a winning streak of six or more twice last season including a 10 game run that concluded with Rider winning the 2010 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference championship.
Rider is 4-0 at home this season and have won eight in a row at Sonny Pittaro Field dating back to last season. The Broncs are 34-10 (.773) in their last 44 home games dating back to the end of the 2008 season.
The Broncs are now 3-1 all-time against Maine. The Black Bears defeated Rider in the 1984 NCAA Northeast Regional by a 12-6 score.
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