FAIRFIELD, CT – The Rider University baseball team fell on the road to Fairfield, 13-4, on Saturday afternoon in Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) play at Fairfield's Alumni Baseball Diamond.

The Broncs (6-18, 1-2 MAAC) have now dropped back-to-back league games, while the Stags (9-16, 3-4 MAAC) have won two conference contests in a row.   

Fairfield jumped on Rider starter Pete Soporowski (South Amboy, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) for six runs in the first inning and never looked back.

The Broncs were able to cut the deficit to just four at 6-2 in the top of the fourth thanks to sacrifice flies by freshman Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) and sophomore Tyler Stockwell (LaPlata, MD/LaPlata High School). In the bottom half, the Stags answered with two runs of their own to stretch the lead back to six.

Fairfield broke the game open with four more runs in the fifth.

At the plate, sophomore Joe Simone (Wayne, NJ/Wayne Hills) had a strong day. The left-handed right fielder reached base four times as he went 2-for-3 with two runs scored, a solo homer, a double, a walk and a hit by pitch.

On the bump, Soporowski was saddled with the loss after going four innings and allowing eight earned runs.    

NOTES & QUOTES
"It's difficult to dig out of a 6-0 hole. We battled back to make it 6-2 and make a game of it. But, we gave them two runs right back. Fairfield was much more prepared than we were. It starts with me. I'm doing a lousy job." – Rider Head Coach Barry Davis

- Rider had nine hits on the day and committed two errors.
- Fairfield has won three of the last four games against the Broncs.
- The Broncs left nine runners on base (six of which came in the last three innings).
- The 4 & 5 hitters for Rider combined to go 4-for-7 with three runs scored.

 BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- In relief, junior Nick Payesko worked three and two-third innings. He scattered three hits and allowed one earned run, while striking out one.
- Senior Harrison McClure also went 2-for-4 with a double and one run scored. It was McClure's sixth multi-hit game of the year.
- Simone registered his ninth two-hit game of the year.  His solo shot was his first homer of the season and the first of his career. He is slugging a team-best .440 in 2018.

UP NEXT
The Broncs and Stags close out their three-game, weekend series with a doubleheader on Sunday, April 8 that is slated to begin at noon. The first game is a seven-inning contest with game two being a nine-inning clash.