College Baseball

Gardner-Webb University 8, Rider University 2

Gardner-Webb University 6, Rider University 2

BOILING SPRINGS, NC—The Broncs lost a doubleheader at Gardner-Webb Saturday. ““It is tough to get behind early, especially on the road, and we did that again today, twice,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “But we had some good swings today. Offensively this was one of our better days, against a pretty good team.”

For Rider (0-7) senior James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert), junior Dalton Mayberry (Chadds Ford, PA/Garnett Valley) and sophomore Jake Bender (Ellicot, Md./Marriotts Ridge) each had two hits on the day.

In the second game Locklear hit an RBI double and Mayberry hit an RBI single to cut the lead to 4-2 in the fifth inning. “Lock did a good job,” Davis said. “Him, Mayberry and Bender were productive today.”

Junior Vincenzo Aiello (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) pitched five innings and gave up four runs, striking out three. “Vinny settled down and did a good job,” Davis said. “He pitched his way out of a jam later in the game. He was much more efficient this time out.”

In the first game freshman Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill) doubled, junior Lee Lipinski (Glen Arm, MD/Calvert) hit an RBI double and scored on Bender's double to cut the lead to 6-2 in the eighth inning. “We worked our way back into it,” Davis said. “Mihalik did a good job getting on base today.”

Junior Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown), senior Patrick Murphy (McHenry, Ill./McHenry), junior Mike Volaski (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) and freshman Jack Finn (Ellicott City, MD/Calvert Hall) also collected hits Saturday. “Finn did a good job behind the plate,” Davis said of his rookie catcher.

“We pitched three freshmen in the first game,” Davis said. “Nick Payesko probably threw as well as he has thrown. He did a great job coming in and helping to keep the game manageable.”

Rider and Gardner-Webb split their two game series in 2014. Rider is 1-7 against Gardner-Webb since the series began in 2009. “This is as a good a Gardner-Webb team as we've ever played,” Davis said. “They are a good team and they know how to play.”

Rider plays Gardner-Webb (12-0) in the fourth game of the series tomorrow at 1pm. “The goal now is to continue to improve,” Davis said. “I think we've done that. We've seen flashes of good baseball. We haven't seen the dominating pitching yet but the pitching has gotten better. We're moving in the right direction.”

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