College Baseball

Rider University 5, Quinnipiac University 2

Quinnipiac University 9, Rider University 8

HARTFORD, CT—The Broncs split a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader with Quinnipiac held at the University of Hartford on Sunday. With the win in the first game Sunday Rider wins the series two games to one. “That's our goal each week, to win the series,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis, “but I'm a little disappointed that we couldn't finish it. Having the opportunity we had in game three.”

In the first game on Sunday the Broncs (16-28, 8-10 MAAC) had 10 hits.

Junior Vincenzo Aiello (Staten Island, NY/Tottenville) pitched into the seventh inning, allowing two runs on seven hits and three walks while striking out six.  “Vinny was very strong through six innings,” Davis said.

Both Quinnipiac runs came in the seventh inning. ““Vinny pitched well and we played solid defense behind him,” Davis said. “It was a good ball game.”

Sophomore Paul Sparano (Ewing, NJ/Ewing) earned the save, his second of the series and fifth of the year. “He did a good job,” Davis said.  “He did what a closer should do. They had the tying run on base so we are very fortunate to win it.”

Sophomore Jake Bender (Ellicot, Md./Marriotts Ridge) hit an RBI triple and scored on a throwing error to give Rider a 5-0 lead in the top of the fourth inning. “That was a big hit there,” Davis said. Bender had three hits in the doubleheader.

Freshman Jack Finn (Ellicott City, MD/Calvert Hall) hit an RBI single earlier in the fourth to give Rider a 3-0 lead. Finn had two hits and scored two runs in the first game. “He puts the ball in play and does the little things that are important,” Davis said of his rookie catcher turned outfielder.

An RBI single by senior James Locklear (Hamilton, NJ/Steinert) and an RBI double by freshman Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill) gave Rider a 2-0 lead in the top of the third inning.

In the second game Sunday and the third game of the series Rider scored two runs without a hit, on a hit batsman and a ground out, both with the bases loaded, to cut the lead to 9-8 in the seventh inning.

Quinnipiac (18-28, 7-11 MAAC) broke a 6-6 tie in the bottom of the sixth inning with three runs on three hits and a Rider error to take a 9-6 lead.

Junior Mike Volaski (Oxnard, CA/Oxnard) hit a two-run triple and junior Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) followed with an RBI triple to tie the score at 6-6 in the sixth inning.  “I thought Volaski had a good day,” Davis said of his third baseman.

Quinnipiac scored three runs on four hits in the first inning, and three more runs in the second inning on four more hits to take a 6-3 lead.

Locklear hit a two-run home run as Rider took a 3-0 lead in the first inning. Locklear had three hits and three RBI in the doubleheader. “He had a big hit in each game to give us the lead early,” Davis said. “He had some good at bats throughout the series.”

The Broncs won two of three games with Quinnipiac at Rider last season and won the only game played at Quinnipiac in the 2014 rain-shortened series.

Rider and Quinnipiac have only met nine times with Rider winning seven.

Sunday's doubleheader was moved to Hartford due to a wet field at Quinnipiac.

Rider will play at Seton Hall Wednesday. “Seton Hall is a good team,” Davis said. “They are always competitive. We will play some other guys, get some guys ready in case we need to go to them. We are going to need a lot of guys down the stretch to try to win games.”

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