JERSEY CITY, NJ – The Rider University baseball team dropped a high-scoring game at Saint Peter's on Thursday, falling 12-8 to the Peacocks. The Broncs fall to 24-23 on the season, and 11-9 in the MAAC. The Peacocks improve to 8-40 overall and 5-16 in MAAC play.
 
Rider opened the scoring in the fourth. Scott Shaw (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West) led off the inning with a single. Brendan O'Donnell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) reached on an error to put runners on first and second. Alex Diamantis (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's Boys) laid down what was planned to be a sacrifice bunt, but Diamantis placed the bunt perfectly and the Peacocks had no play. Back-to-back sacrifice flies by Jordan Erbe (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South) and John Volpe (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall) put Rider up 2-0.
 
The Peacocks quickly tied the game in the bottom of the inning on a two run homer.
 
In the fifth, Luke Lesch (Gloucester Twp., NJ/Gloucester Catholic) led off the inning with a walk. Two batters later, O'Donnell blasted a pitch that hooked around the left field foul pole to put the Broncs back in front.
 
Once again, the lead would be short lived. The Peacocks batted around in the bottom of the fifth, scoring five runs on four hits, aided by three walks.
 
Rider threatened again in the sixth. Volpe led off the inning with a single. Two batters later, Lesch hit an infield single to short. A Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) walk loaded the bases, and Volpe came in to score on a walk by Shaw, cutting the deficit to 7-5, but the Broncs would get no closer. Rider left two on in the seventh, and another in the eighth.
 
Saint Peter's then dealt the death blow in the eighth, adding another five runs, taking advantage of a Rider error that extended the inning to score the final four. The insurance runs proved to be extremely valuable.
 
Diamantis led off the ninth with a single. Erbe followed with a base hit of his own. Volpe then hit a three-run home run that cut the lead to 12-8. Back-to-back singles by Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) and Socrates Bardatsos (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) had the tying run in on-deck circle with no outs. A one-out walk to Barbiere brought the tying run to the plate, but back-to-back strike outs left the bases loaded.
 
Quotes & Notes
"We got outplayed today. We hit, but not with runners in scoring position. We didn't make pitches when we needed to or make the defensive play when it was needed."
 
"It's always three to five plays a game. You never know when they are coming, so you need to play them all with laser focus and confidence. We didn't do that today."
 
"We will come back tomorrow and try to even the series." – Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
 
- Joe Papeo (Matawan, NJ/Old Bridge) got the start for the Broncs, allowing five runs on seven hits to take the loss. He struck out five in his 4.1 innings.
- Danny Kirwin (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) followed with 2.2 innings, allowing two runs on three hits, while striking out three.
- Frank DelGuercio (Millstone, NJ/The Hun School of Princeton) allowed, three runs, just one earned in a third of an inning.
- Kyle Smith (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) allowed two unearned run in his two-thirds of an inning. He recorded one strike out.
- The Broncs left 17 runners on base in the game.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- The 16 hits by the Broncs ties a season high.
- Eight Broncs recorded hits in the game, led by four from Winsett.
- All nine batters reached base at least once in the game.
- Bardatsos has a hit in seven-straight games.
- O'Donnell's home run is his 16^th of the season, just one shy of tying the Rider single-season record.
- Volpe's home run is his fourth of the season.
 
Up Next
- The Broncs and Peacocks are back in action Friday afternoon at noon.