ANNAPOLIS, MD – The Navy baseball team rallied to defeat visiting Rider University, 5-3, on Saturday afternoon in non-conference action at Max Bishop Stadium.

The Broncs (4-9) dropped their sixth straight game outside of Lawrenceville, while the Midshipmen (11-4) won their fourth home contest in a row and secured a series victory after taking yesterday's opener, 10-4.  

Navy scored the final four runs in the game, plating two runs apiece in both the sixth and eighth frames. In the sixth inning, the Mids took advantage of a Rider error and a wild pitch to come back and tie the game at three.

With the score knotted at three in the eighth, Navy opened the frame with back-to-back triples to right center to take a 4-3. The Mid would push across an insurance run later in the stanza with a single through the left side.

Rider took its first lead of the series in the top of sixth as sophomore outfielder Joe Simone (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) started things off with a double and would later come around on a ground out to short. With two outs and two runners on, sophomore catcher Tyler Stockwell (LaPlata, MD/LaPlata High School) delivered an RBI single the other way to right field to give the guests a 3-1 lead at the time.

Redshirt junior CJ Hirschy (Toms River, NJ/Toms River HS East) worked one inning and allowed two earned runs out of the bullpen in a losing effort. Sophomore southpaw Pete Soporowski (South Amboy, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) got the start and tossed the first six and a third innings for Rider. Soporowski scattered five hits and surrendered three runs (just one of which was earned), while striking out a pair.  

At the plate, Simone and Stockwell paced the Rider attack with two hits apiece.  

NOTES & QUOTES
"We have to learn how to win and do the things it takes to win. There's a plethora of examples and right now we are not doing them." – Rider Head Coach Barry Davis

- Rider is 2-7 in true road games this season.
- Rider committed two errors on the day.
- Rider had six hits and left eight runners on base.
- The Broncs loaded the bases with no outs in the fourth, but they were only able to score one run after hitting into a double play.   

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Junior Jordan Silverman worked the final two-thirds of an inning for the Broncs out of the bullpen.  He surrendered one hit and faced three batters. It was his fourth scoreless appearance of the season.
- Soporowski has allowed one earned run or fewer in all four of his starts this season. He has also pitched six or more innings in each of his last three appearances.
- Stockwell went 2-for-3 with an RBI and a walk. It was his first multi-hit game of the spring. Stockwell has had an RBI in back-to-back games for Rider.
- Simone went 2-for-5 with a pair of doubles and two runs scored. It was his second straight two-hit game. Simone has had two or more hits in three of his last four starts. He leads the team in hits (15), doubles (7) and batting average (.319).   

UP NEXT
Rider concludes its three-game set with Navy on Sunday, March 11 with first pitch scheduled for 1:00 pm.