2018 Rider University Baseball
MAAC Opening Series
GAME 23 – April 4, 2018
Rider Broncs (6-16, 1-1 MAAC) vs. La Salle Explorers (6-19, 1-5 A10)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ (Sonny Pittaro Field)
First Pitch: 3:30 pm
Live Stats: SideArm Stats
Twitter: @RiderUBaseball

What You Need to Know
- After several schedule changes due to weather that swept through the area this week, the Rider University baseball team finally returns to action on Wednesday, April 4 at 3:30 pm against regional foe La Salle as part of the Liberty Bell Classic.

- Rider is coming off a doubleheader split with Iona to begin conference play last week.

- In the Broncs win against the Gaels on Saturday, sophomore southpaw Pete Soporowski tossed six shutout innings against Iona to pick up his second win of the season last week for Rider. He scattered five hits and struck out five Gaels, while surrendering just three walks. It was the second start of the year in which he tossed six or more scoreless innings. He has allowed one or fewer earned runs in five of his six starts this spring. It was also Soporowski's fourth start in which he worked six or more innings in 2018.

- Offensively, sophomore Kyle Johnson paced the Rider attack in three games last week. Johnson hit .444 with a pair of multi-hit games as Rider went 1-2 last week. He had an on-base percentage of .417 and a slugging percentage of .556. In a midweek non-conference clash with Lehigh, he went 2-for-4 with a run scored. In his 2018 conference debut he went 2-for-3 with a career-high five RBIs in a victory over Iona. Against the Gaels in game one of the series, he added a double, a stolen base, two sacrifice flies and one run scored.

- At the plate, senior Jake Bender is leading the team with a .313 batting average. He also has a team-high 26 hits and 15 runs scored. Earlier this year, Bender and junior Riley Mihalik each recorded their 100th career hits.

- Out of the bullpen, junior Jordan Silverman has made a team-high 13 appearances. Freshman Vincent Vitacco has worked 12 innings of relief and amassed 11 strikeouts to go along with an ERA of 3.00.

- Senior Harrison McClure and sophomore Joe Simone are tied for the team lead with eight extra-base hits this spring.

- Three Broncs have 10 or more RBIs this spring led by Johnson with 11, while both Mihalik and McClure have 10 apiece.

- On the basepaths, five Broncs have four or more steals with Johnson and McClure tied for the team lead with five each.

- Rider and La Salle are playing for the fifth time in the last five years. The two teams did not meet last season, but played twice in 2015. Rider has won the last four meetings between the two teams. The Broncs lead the all-time series, 36-19.