College Baseball
Rider University 5, Cleveland State University 0
CLEVELAND, OH-The Broncs defeated Cleveland State Thursday in the first game of a three-game series with the Vikings. "It was a well-pitched game with good defense," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "It was a methodical win, nothing exciting, but it was a good win. CSU played pretty well."
Rider (31-16, 16-7 MAAC) senior Karl Johnston (Hamilton, N.J./Peddie) broke the game open with a two-run triple in the top of the ninth inning to give the Broncs a 5-0 lead. Johnston had two hits on the day. "That was a big two-out hit," Davis said. "It gave us some separation."
Senior Mike Thomas (Forest Hill, Md./Fallston) pitched seven shutout innings, compiling four strikeouts while allowing just four hits and a walk. The Rider career leader in wins (29) and strikeouts (276), Thomas improves to 9-2 on the season. "Mike was again pretty good," Davis said. "His pitch count was down, he was very efficient. He did a good job. He could have continued but with the tournament coming up we took him out."
Rider took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by senior Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) and a first-and-third steal of home by sophomore Adam Wayman (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial). "We sort of manufactured two runs early," Davis said.
Wayman singled in the third inning for his 100th career hit. "Getting your 100th hit in your sophomore year is certainly hard to do," Davis said. "He's been pretty consistent for us. Hopefully over the next two years he'll put another 100 up."
Galella leads the Broncs with 39 RBI.
The Broncs went up 3-0 in the sixth when freshman Nick Crescenzo (Hammonton, NJ/Hammonton) singled, stole second and scored on an RBI single by junior Ryan Murphy (Yardville, N.J./Steinert), who graduated last Friday but has a season of eligibility remaining. "Murph gave us a clutch hit there," Davis said. "We stayed at it. Their pitcher threw the ball pretty good. It was a well pitched game by both teams."
The New Jersey Division I Rookie of the Year, Crescenzo had three of Rider's 10 hits. "The one out he made was probably the hardest ball he hit all day," Davis said.
Thursday's game was the 209th for senior shortstop John Ralston (Annandale, Va./Paul VI), who graduated last Friday, a new Rider career record for games played. "That's a nice record to have," Davis said.
Rider plays at Cleveland State (12-41, 5-20 Horizon) Friday night and Saturday afternoon to end the regular season. Saturday's game will be the final game in CSU program history, as the university is dropping the sport of baseball.
"Hopefully tomorrow we'll come out and play well again," Davis said.
Rider hosts the MAAC Tournament May 26-29 at Mercer County's Waterfront Park. The Broncs are the second seed and will play Thursday at 7pm.
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