LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Junior Riley Mihalik (Churchville, PA/Chestnut Hill Academy) hit a pair of home runs and registered five RBIs and classmate Zach Gakeler (Jobstown, NJ/North Burlington) tossed seven shutout innings to lead the Rider University baseball team past hOURglass rival Saint Peters, 13-7, on Friday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) action at Sonny Pittaro Field.

The Broncs (7-21, 2-4 MAAC) snapped a six-game skid with their most lopsided conference victory of the spring, while the Peacocks (0-25, 0-10 MAAC) remained winless on the year.

Rider jumped out to an early lead thanks to a five-run outburst in the first inning and never looked back. After the first two runners reached base, Mihalik launched his first homer of the day to deep right center. Later in the frame, Tyler Stockwell (LaPlata, MD/La Plata High School) added an run-scoring double and Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) scored on a wild pitch.

The Broncs once again erupted for five runs in the home half of the fifth to take a 12-0 advantage. In the frame, Mihalik smacked a two-run homer, Brennan McAllister (Middletown, DE/Middletown) had an RBI single and Kyle Johnson (Jackson, NJ/Jackson Memorial) added a run-scoring single through the left side.

Saint Peter's did their damage down the stretch, scoring two runs in the eighth on a home run and five runs in the ninth. With the bases loaded and one out in the ninth, junior reliever Jordan Silverman (Holland, PA/Council Rock HS South) came in to close out. On his third pitch of the inning he got a game-ending double-play ball to third as Rider escaped.

Gakeler delievered his strongest start as a Bronc, tossing seven scoreless innings and striking out nine Peacocks to earn his first win with the program. Gakeler scattered five hits and surrendered just one walk. His nine strikeouts were a career-high and the most by a Rider pitcher since Nick Margevicius fanned nine Canisius batters last May in the MAAC Tournament.

At the plate, Mihalik went 2-for-3 with a walk, two homers, five RBIs and three runs scored. Hitting out of the two-hole, McAllister went 3-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs for the Broncs.

NOTES & QUOTES
"I think Zach needed this to get on track. His velocity was good. It was a good outing. We were able to get him some run support. He gave us the innings we needed without having to use too many guys out of the pen." – Rider Head Coach Barry Davis

"Riley had a big day. He relaxed and drove the ball like he's capable of. We got a nice, warm day and the ball carried a little. It was 3-0 quick. It gave us a boost and we tacked on some more. We put the ball in play and moved it around. We need to play well tomorrow and try to get those games if we can." – Davis

- Rider is now 2-4 in the MAAC and 2-4 at home this year.
- All nine Bronc starters had a hit in the game.
- Four Rider players had multi-hit games.
- The loss was the 64th straight for Saint Peter's.
- The win was the fifth in a row for the Broncs against the Peacocks.
- Rider is now 40-10 all-time versus Saint Peter's.

 BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Silverman made his team-leading 17th appearance of the season. It took him just three pitches to get out of a bases –loaded, one-out jam. It was his team-best ninth scoreless outing this spring.
- Gakeler recorded his first career quality start. He went past the fifth inning for the first time in his career. His nine strikeouts nearly doubled his career-best of five. His nine strikeouts were the most by a Bronc pitcher this year as was his 9-to-1 strikeout to walk ratio.  
- Mihalik now leads the team with three homers this season. It was his fourth game in 2018 with two or more RBIs.
- McAllister's three-hit performance was his first of the season. He has had two or more hits in each of his last four MAAC games.
- Kyle Johnson and Jake Bender both had two-hit games for the Broncs.    
- Jake Barbiere and Jake Bender both recorded their sixth steals of the season. They are both tied with Joe Simone and Harrison McClure for the most on the team.  

UP NEXT
The Broncs close out the weekend series with the Peacocks on Saturday, April 14 with a doubleheader that is slated to begin at noon. Game one will be a seven-inning contest followed by a nine-inning clash in game two.