LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Senior outfielder Tyler Kaiser (Moorestown, NJ/Moorestown) had three hits and junior starting pitcher Nick Margevicius (North Royalton, OH/Saint Ignatius) tossed 6.2 scoreless innings to lead the Rider University baseball team past visiting Manhattan, 6-1, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at Sonny Pittaro Field. The Broncs (17-20-1, 9-7 MAAC) snapped a three-game conference losing streak, while the Jaspers (11-28, 5-8 MAAC) dropped their second league contest in a row.

Rider opened the scoring in the bottom half of the second courtesy of a solo shot from Kaiser. The Broncs would stretch their lead to 3-0 with a pair of runs in fifth before adding three more insurance runs in the sixth.

Offensively, Kaiser led the charge for the hosts going 3-for-4 with two extra-base hits, two runs scored and an RBI. Four other Broncs had multi-hit games as well. In total, five Rider batters accounted for the team's 11 hits. The other big hit for the Broncs came from sophomore designated hitter Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) as he smacked a two-out, two-run triple. Mihalik went 2-for-4 on the day, while Dalton Mayberry (Chadds Ford, PA/Marist College/Cumberland CC/Garnet Valley), Jake Bender (Ellicott City, MD/Marriotts Ridge) and Richie Tecco (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner) all recorded two hits apiece for Rider.

On the mound, Margevicius was impressive en route to his fifth win of the season. The hard-throwing lefty tossed 6.2 scoreless innings, while scattering six hits and tying a season-high with eight strikeouts. Senior southpaw Mike Diorio (Middletown, NJ/Middletown HS South) closed things out for the hosts, working the ninth.

NOTES & QUOTES
“It was a nice win,” Rider Head Coach Barry Davis said. “It's good to keep pace with the other teams in the league. Nick was solid for us, he didn't give up a run.”

“Riley had the big hit today,” Davis said speaking of the sophomore's two-out, two-run triple. “We had some timely hitting and Kaiser came up big. He was a single shy of the cycle and hustled on his double out of the box. In the field, he made two big plays throwing out the tying run at the plate and later a guy at second to end an inning.”

- Margevicius got out of a bases loaded, one-out jam in the first by striking out the next two Jaspers he faced. He followed that up by fanning the side in the second as he struck out five Manhattan batters in a row. From the first through the middle of the fourth, he set down nine Jaspers in a row.
- Kaiser threw out the would-be tying run to close out the top of the fifth with a laser from left. It was his team-high third outfield assist of 2017. He would add his fourth outfield assist on the year to end the seven as he gunned a runner at second trying to stretch a single into a double.
- Margevicius has allowed one earned run or fewer in four of his six starts against MAAC opponents in 2017. He has struck out eight batters in a game four times this spring and leads the team with 62 strikeouts on the year.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Kaiser's homer in the second-inning was his team-leading fifth of the season. He also leads the team with 26 RBIs. His triple to lead off the sixth was his third of the season. He has a team-high 14 extra-base hits.
- In the bottom of the fifth, Richie Tecco laid down his team-best 11th sacrifice bunt of the season. No other Bronc has more than one this spring. Tecco has 11 of the team's 14 sacrifices in 2017.  
- Mihalik's triple in the fifth was his second of the spring.
- Tecco stole second with two outs in sixth. It was his fifth steal. He is 5-of-6 in stolen-base attempts this spring.
- Reliever Josh Sharik made his team-high 24th appearance out of the bullpen for the Broncs.

ON DECK
Rider and Manhattan close out a three-game weekend MAAC series on Sunday afternoon with a doubleheader that is slated to get underway at noon. Taking the mound for the Broncs will be John Yocum and Pete Soporowski. The first game on Sunday will be seven innings and the finale is schedule for nine frames.