Box Score College Baseball
Rider University 4, Saint Peter's University 3 (10 innings)
LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ—Sophomore Brian Uliana (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) hit an RBI walk-off bunt single to give Rider a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference victory over Saint Peter's Thursday.
“Brian did it on his own,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “He has gotten bunt hits like that in the past. All I told him was read what you see.”
What Uliana saw was the Saint Peter's third baseman playing very deep with two outs and runners on first and third.
“Going up to the plate my mentality was 'I gotta get him in, we gotta win the game',” Uliana said. “I was confident that I was going to get a hit. But when I saw the third baseman in no-man's land, I just had to drop it down.”
“It was a perfect bunt,” Davis said.
“Bunting for a hit is something I usually am pretty good at,” Uliana said. “I never had a walk-off bunt before. That's a first and I love it.”
The victory snapped a five-game losing streak for Rider (17-32, 9-13 MAAC), while Saint Peter's (9-41, 4-18 MAAC) lost for the sixth straight time. “It was a good win today,” Davis said. “It feels good to win.”
The Broncs scored two runs in the fourth inning when junior Dalton Mayberry (Chadds Ford, PA/Garnett Valley) doubled, freshman Richie Tecco (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner) had a bunt single, and they both scored on an error and a passed ball to tie the score at 3-3.
Tecco had three of Rider's 15 hits, while Mayberry had two.
Saint Peter's scored a run in the second inning and one in the third inning to take a 2-0 lead.
Rider cut the lead to 2-1 in the third inning on an RBI single by junior Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown). Kaiser had two hits.
Senior James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) also had two hits and now has 180 career hits, 24th most ever at Rider.
Rider junior Vincenzo Aiello (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) pitched eight innings, striking out eight without a walk. “Vinnie threw fine,” Davis said. “It was a good game by him.”
Sophomore Mike Diorio (Middletown, NJ/Middletown South) pitched a three-up, three-down ninth inning. “I thought Diorio did a fantastic job through the middle of their order,” Davis said.
Sophomore Paul Sparano (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) pitched a scoreless, hitless 10th inning for the win, his third.
Rider and Saint Peter's did not meet last year. The Broncs won 14 out of 16 against Saint Peter's over a five-year span before losing three times to the Peacocks in 2014. The last time St. Peter's came to Rider, in 2013, the Broncs won two out of three.
Rider and Saint Peter's have now met 67 times since the series began in 1941 with Rider winning 58.
The 2016 season comes to an end for both Rider and SPU on Friday with a 12 noon doubleheader. “You want to go out with some wins,” Davis said.
Prior to the first game Friday Rider will say goodbye to seniors Patrick Murphy and James Locklear.
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