College Baseball
Rider University 6, NJIT 5
NEWARK—The Broncs held on for a victory over The New Jersey Institute of Technology Wednesday afternoon. The win was Rider's fifth in a row and 10th in the last 13 games.
“We've won a few games,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis, “but we're going to have to step it up a notch this weekend.”
Making his fourth start, junior Jerry Mulderig (Langhorne, PA/Council Rock South) pitched three perfect innings, striking out three, and as the DH had a single, a stolen base and an RBI.
'Jerry threw fine,” Davis said. “He threw strikes.”
Mulderig (3-2) has appeared in 16 career Rider games as a pitcher, 12 in relief, and this year leads Rider in batting (.379 with 34 hits).
Rider (18-12) jumped out to a 6-0 lead and held on. “We did hang on,” Davis said. “It wasn't like we were in control the entire day.”
The first five Rider pitchers held NJIT (9-18) to just two hits through seven innings, before the Highlanders scored three runs in the eighth inning and two more in the ninth.
“We let them back into the game,” Davis said. “Hopefully we learned a lesson without losing the game. Not real pleased with the way we closed out the game.”
The seventh Rider pitcher of the day, sophomore Zach Mawson (Magnolia, DE/Caesar Rodney), pitched the ninth inning for his eighth save, despite allowing a two-run single for the final score.
An RBI single in the fourth inning by sophomore Eric Strano (Robbinsville) made it 6-0.
A two-out, RBI single by sophomore Justin Thomas (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South) gave Rider a 4-0 lead in the third inning
Freshman James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert), Thomas and Strano each had two of Rider's 11 hits. Locklear also had two stolen bases. “All three of them had real good at bats today,” Davis said.
Rider sophomore Greg Fazio (Far Hills/Ridge) was hit by a pitch, stole second and scored on an error for a 3-0 Rider lead. Fazio's RBI single in the fourth inning made it 5-0.
Sophomore Mike Parsons (Liverpool, NY) and Strano singled and scored in the top of the first inning to give the Broncs a 2-0 lead.
Rider defeated NJIT two out of three games on March 23-24.
Rider travels to Riverdale, NY to take on Manhattan in a three-game MAAC series this weekend, beginning with a 12 noon doubleheader Saturday. “We better be ready to go,” Davis said. “We're going to need our 'A' game this weekend. It is always tough to win up there.”
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