Lexington, SC – The Rider University baseball team dropped both ends of a doubleheader against Ohio University on Saturday afternoon in a neutral-site clash at Lexington County Stadium. The Broncs fell, 10-2, in the opener and the Bobcats held off Rider for a 6-5 triumph in the nightcap.  

The Broncs (1-2) got solid showings from their starting pitchers, while Ohio (2-1) bounced back from a setback to Rider on Friday evening.  

In the first game, sophomore Pete Soporowski (South Amboy, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) got the start and tossed four innings. He was saddled with the loss after giving up one earned run. At the plate, sophomores Kyle Johnson (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) and Joe Simone (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) combined to go 4-for-8 with two walks at the top order. Ohio scored the first five runs of the game and the Broncs cut the deficit to three following an RBI single from Simone and a sac fly from senior Harrison McClure (Atlanta, GA/North Atlanta). The Bobcats pulled away in the top of the eighth, plating three runs before tacking on two more in the ninth.

In the nightcap, Rider's late rally fell short. Trailing by one run in the ninth, McClure led off the frame with a double to left field. With the tying run in scoring position the Broncs were unable to push him across as the Bobcat reliever fanned the next three batters he faced.

Junior Zach Gakeler (Jobstown, NJ/North Burlington) got the start and surrendered two earned runs in five innings of work. Reliever Anthony Arneth (Pine Beach, NJ/Central Regional) was on the hook for the loss as he gave up two runs in two and a third innings of work.

At the plate, Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) smacked three hits in game two, while McClure and Johnson each had two apiece.    

NOTES & QUOTES
"In game two we competed very well. We prevented the big inning even though we made four errors. Zach Gakeler threw well and kept us in the game, which made Harrison's two-run homer more significant." ­– Rider Head Coach Barry Davis

"I thought Arneth was solid out of the bullpen in game two coming back the second day in a row. He gave us a chance to win. At the plate, we just had too many strikeouts in critical situations." – Davis

"Pete Soporowski was solid in game one. His pitch count got a little too high and so it limited the number of innings he worked. When he came out we were down, 1-0. From there on our bullpen did not get the job done." – Davis

"We competed at the plate throughout, but did not get a hit in RBI situations in game one." – Davis  

- Through the first three games, the Rider starters have struck out 13 hitters without surrendering a walk.
- Rider committed seven errors on the day. Six of which came in game two.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Jake Bender is two hits away from 100 in his career.
- On the day, Kyle Johnson was 4-for-7 (.571) with three walks, three runs scored and a double at the top of the order.
- Mihalik and McClure both had two RBIs in game two.
- In game one, Johnson and Simone had two hits apiece. They accounted for four of the team's six hits.
- Jordan Silverman worked a scoreless two-thirds of an inning to close it out in game two.  

UP NEXT
Rider and Ohio close out the four-game set on Sunday afternoon.