RADFORD, VA – In a game that was delayed for several hours due to inclement weather and lightning, the Rider University baseball team fell on the road to Radford, 3-1, on Saturday afternoon at the Radford Baseball Stadium. The Broncs (6-9) dropped their second straight, while the Highlanders (7-11) won their fourth home contest in a row.

Radford broke a 1-1 tie with single runs in both the seventh and eighth innings to top Rider. In the seventh, Kyle Butler delivered what proved to be the game-winning RBI with a single down the right-field line. A frame later, the Highlanders would add an insurance run thanks to an RBI single through the right side by Spencer Horowitz.

The Highlanders opened the scoring in the home half of the second as Clayton Baine stole third and came around to score on a Bronc throwing error. Rider would answer and tie the game at one all in the fifth inning courtesy of a two-out, RBI double to left center from freshman Kyle Johnson (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) that brought Jake Bender (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) racing home.  

Offensively, Johnson and Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) led the charge for Rider with two hits apiece. Johnson went 2-for-3 with a walk, while Kaiser went 2-for-4 with a pair of singles.

On the mound, junior southpaw Nick Margevicius (North Royalton, OH/Saint Ignatius) got the start for Rider and tossed five innings. He got a no-decision as he surrendered just one unearned run and scattered four hits, while striking out eight Highlanders. In relief, Rider senior Josh Sharik (Ewing, NJ/Plumstead Christian School) was the pitcher of record. Sharik went 1.2 innings and allowed one earned run, while scattering three hits to move to 0-2 on the year in eight appearances.

NOTES & QUOTES

“We competed much better today,” Rider Head Coach Barry Davis said. "Nick was sharp for us once again on the mound. We had some missed opportunities in the sixth. Hitting into two double plays today didn't help our cause today either."

- Johnson's two-out, game-tying RBI double in the fifth was his fifth career extra-base hit. He collected his fifth RBI as a Bronc with the two-bagger. Three of his five RBIs have come with two outs this spring. 

- Margevicius has not allowed more than three earned runs in any of his four starts in 2017. He lowered his ERA to 2.25. The eight strikeouts were a season-high as he has fanned 11 batters in his last 12 innings pitched. Margevicius also posted a WHIP of 1.00 or lower for the second start this season. 

- Both teams loaded the bases with one out and were unable to score. Margevicius got out of a jam in the first with back-to-back strikeouts and Radford escaped in the sixth after allowing three consecutive one-out singles. 

- The weather delay was four hours and 10 minutes.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS

- Kaiser's multi-hit game was his second of the road trip and of the season. 

- Lee Lipinski has recorded a hit in eight straight starts for the Broncs. 

- After recording three hits over the first nine games of the season, Richie Tecco has registered a hit in three straight games.

ON DECK

Rider returns to action and closes a three-game set against Radford on Sunday, March 19, with a single nine-inning contest that is slated to get underway at 2:00 pm. Getting the start on the mound for the Broncs is junior Paul Sparano. The tilt closes out a nine-day trip for Rider that started at Georgia on March 10.