Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 College Baseball
Rider University 7, Canisius College 5
Rider University 12, Canisius College 8
BUFFALO, NY—Senior Justin Thomas (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South) had four hits, including a home run and two doubles, and four RBI, and junior James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) had six hits and scored four runs to lead Rider to a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of defending champion Canisius Friday afternoon.
“Two big wins on the road at a tough place to play,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “We're happy with that. We swung the bat pretty good today and we got good starting pitching.”
In the first game Thomas hit a two-run home run to cap a four-run seventh inning, giving the Broncs (8-14, 2-0 MAAC) a 7-2 lead. Senior Mike Parsons (Liverpool, NY) singled and scored on an RBI single by senior Nick Richter (Fox River Grove, Ill./Cary-Grove) to start the seventh.
Parsons had two hits in the first game and three on the day. Richter had two hits on the day.
Canisius (13-17, 5-3 MAAC) came right back and scored three runs on five hits in the bottom of the seventh for the final score.
Rider senior Zach Mawson (Magnolia, DE/Caesar Rodney) started and pitched into the seventh inning, but gave up four of his 11 hits allowed in the seventh, leaving the game with a 7-4 lead. “I thought Mawson was really good today,” Davis said.
Senior Eric Thomas (Dallastown, PA/Dallastown Area) came in and recorded a strikeout, issued a walk and got a ground ball double play to end the first game with his fourth save.
Sophomore reliever Josh Sharik (Ewing, NJ/Plumstead Christian) came in and got Rider out of a jam, retiring five outs without allowing a run. Sharik closed the second game in a non-save situation. “The second game he only threw one pitch, but it was a big, important one,” Davis said.
Senior Greg Fazio (Far Hills/Ridge) hit a two-run single in the first inning to give the Broncs an early lead. Thomas hit an RBI double to give Rider a 3-0 lead in the third inning.
In the second game senior Kurt Sowa (Bensalem, PA/Fr. Judge) pitched six shutout innings, allowing just two hits while striking out eight to improve to 2-1 on the season. “He did a good job,” Davis said. “He was able to get us deep in the game. He got stronger as the game went on.”
The win was the 20th for Sowa (20-11), just the tenth Bronc to compile 20 career wins. “That's a milestone that is hard to do,” Davis said.”
Thomas doubled and scored on an RBI triple by Fazio in the fifth inning to give Rider a 5-0 lead. “Thomas had a big day at the plate,” Davis said.
Rider scored seven runs in the seventh inning to take a 12-0 lead when Fazio hit a sacrifice fly, junior Patrick Murphy (McHenry, Ill./McHenry) followed with an RBI single, Parsons hit an RBI double and junior Jordan Leinweber (Castle Rock, CO/Douglas County) hit a two-run double.
Canisius would not give up, however, scoring eight runs on Rider's bullpen in the seventh inning for the final score. “In both games we couldn't finish the way we would want to,” Davis said, “but we won them.”
Rider senior Eric Strano (Robbinsville) hit a two-run double in the fourth inning to give the Broncs a 4-0 lead. Strano had three hits on the day and caught both games.
Thomas hit an RBI single and Locklear reached base with a bunt single and scored on a passed ball for a 2-0 Rider lead in the first inning.
The third game of the series is scheduled for Saturday at 2pm. “We felt good today,” Davis said. “We're happy about the two wins. We have a chance tomorrow to come out and get a third game which would be really big. It is going to be a challenge. Canisius is a very good team.”
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