POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – The Rider University baseball team dropped both ends of a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) doubleheader to Marist on Saturday afternoon at McCann Field. The Broncs (17-24-1, 9-11 MAAC) dropped the opener, 5-1, and the Red Foxes (25-18, 12-5 MAAC) took game two, 10-1.

In the opener, the hosts opened the scoring with two runs in the bottom of the third. The Broncs would cut into the lead in half as Dalton Mayberry (Chadds Ford, PA/Marist College/Cumberland CC/Garnet Valley) delivered a two-out RBI to left center. Marist would answer by scoring a single in their final three at-bats. Over the final 1.2 innings, Red Fox reliever Mike Cross kept the Broncs at bay to preserve the win.

Marist broke open a 1-1 game in the nightcap with five runs in the fourth and the hosts added four more runs in the bottom of the sixth. Rider opened the scoring in third inning thanks to a two-out, run-scoring single through the right side by freshman infielder Kyle Johnson (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial).

Offensively, senior third basemen Mike Volaski (Oxnard, CA/Ventura CC/Oxnard) accounted for half of the team's four hits in the opener. He went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while Mayberry and Lee Lipinski added the other Rider hits in game. At the plate in game two, senior Brian Uliana (Bethlehem, PA/Freedom) had a multi-hit game for Rider, going 2-for-3 with a run scored.

On the mound, junior southpaw Nick Margevicius (North Royalton, OH/ Saint Ignatius) was saddled with the loss in the opener. He tossed 7.0 innings and allowed four runs (three of which were earned), while scattering eight hits and striking out three hitters. In the finale, freshman Pete Soporowski (South Amboy, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) took the loss. Soporowski tossed 4.0 innings and allowed six earned runs, while scattering just four hits. The first-year lefty also struck out one hitter and walked seven.

NOTES & QUOTES

“We could not prevent the big inning today and we could not generate one either,” Rider Head Coach Barry Davis said.

- Uliana's multi-hit game was his second of the season and his first in conference action. 

- Both Mayberry and Lee Lipinski pitched in game two. It was Lipinski's first career appearance on the mound. 

- Earlier this season, both Lipinski and senior outfielder Tyler Kaiser reached a milestone for the Broncs with their 100th career hits.

- Margevicius is now 5-3 on the year with a team-leading 2.41 ERA in 71.0 innings of work. He also has a team-best 65 strikeouts.

BRONCS BY THE NUMERS

- Rider is 1-7 in its last eight conference games. 

- The top of the Rider order (1-2-3) went 3-for-8 with a walk in game. The trio of Johnson, Harrison McClure and Lipinski accounted for three of the team's five hits. 

- Johnson's run-scoring single was his 16th RBI of the season. The first-year leadoff hitter also has a team-best 45 this spring.

ON DECK

Rider and Marist conclude their three-game weekend set tomorrow, May 7, with a single, nine-inning contest that is slated to begin at noon. Toeing the rubber for the Broncs will be freshman John Yocum.