MORGANTOWN, WV – The Rider University baseball team took West Virginia to extra innings Tuesday night, but the Mountaineers scored in the bottom of the tenth to defeat the Broncs, 5-4. The Broncs drop to 6-5 on the season, while the Mountaineers improved to 8-4.
The Broncs opened the scoring in the second.
Brendan O'Donnell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) led off the inning with a walk.
Luke Lesch (Gloucester Township, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) followed with a single. Two batters later
Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) singled home O'Donnell to give the Broncs the lead.
West Virginia responded with runs in the second and third to take back control of the game before pitching took over. Both sides navigated the middle three innings without allowing a run.
The Broncs came through in the seventh.
Jordan Erbe (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South[UMass]) reached on an error to lead off the inning.
Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) followed with an infield hit, then
Socrates Bardatsos (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) loaded the base with a single to center.
John Volpe (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall) tied the game with an RBI fielder's choice.
Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood) then delivered with a sacrifice fly to give the Broncs back the lead. O'Donnell capped the rally with an RBI-single that put Rider up 4-2.
West Virginia tied the game in the eighth with a pair of runs in the eighth.
The game remained tied into the tenth, when West Virginia hit a one-out RBI double to take the victory.
Quotes & Notes
"We played well, but we didn't play the complete game that's required against teams of this caliber."
– Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
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Kenny Quijano (Teaneck, NJ/St. Mary's) made the start for the Broncs, throwing two innings, allowing one run on three hits, and striking out a pair.
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Vincent Vitacco (Staten Island, NY/Monsignor Farrell) tossed three innings, allowing one run on four hits. He struck out three.
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Frank DelGuercio (Millstone, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) tossed a hitless inning in relief.
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Danny Kirwin (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) threw a scoreless inning out of the pen.
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Cal Stalzer (West Des Moines, IA/Valley[George Washington/Kirkwood C.C]) struck out two in 2.1 innings, allowing three runs, taking the loss.
Broncs by the Numbers
- Barbiere led the Broncs with three hits.
- Barbiere and Volpe both extend their hitting streaks to five games.
- Eight different Broncs recorded a hit in the game.
Up Next
- The Broncs continue the spring trip on Friday against East Tennessee State at 3 p.m.
