POMONA, NY – The Rider University baseball team saw its season come to an end Sunday afternoon, falling 9-5 in the Championship Series of the MAAC Tournament to Canisius. The Broncs close out the year at 28-26.
 
Rider opened the scoring in the second. Jake Barbiere (Randolph, NJ/Randolph) led off the inning with a single to center. Alex Diamantis (Staten Island, NY/St. Peter's Boys) came to the plate and showed bunt. He pulled the bat back and dumped a bloop single over the drawn in infield. Richie Sica (Wycoff, NJ/Ramapo) did lay down a sacrifice bunt, and loaded the bases when the throw from the Golden Griffins third baseman went awry. Rider got a run when Canisius traded a double play for a run.
 
The Golden Griffins took advantage of three Rider walks to score twice in the bottom of the inning, while recording just one hit.
 
Rider quickly tied the game in the top of the third. Brendan O'Donnell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley) hit the first pitch he saw over the fence in left center, tying the game back up at two.
 
Canisius strung together four-straight singles, a pair of walks, another single, and a fielder's choice without an out being recorded to break the game open in the fifth, scoring a total of five runs before an out was recorded.
 
Three straight singles in the eighth provided a pair of insurance runs for Canisius, extending the lead to 9-2.
 
In the ninth, Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood) led off the inning with a walk. Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) followed with a single. Two batters later, Socrates Bardatsos (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional) drove in a run with a ground out. Luke Lesch (Gloucester Township, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) kept hope alive with a two-run home run into the short porch in right field, trimming the deficit to 9-5, but the rally would end there.  
 
Quotes & Notes
"We lost out on an opportunity early, having bases loaded with no outs in the second and only coming away with one run. That was a pivotal spot for us."
 
"You have guys pitching on no rest and one day's rest. They hit the ball and it wasn't at us. Those runs add up."
 
"I thought we competed all week. It helps to have this experience. Last year helped and I think that this year will help us next year. You always want to play your best ball this weekend, and I think we did that." – Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
 
- Frank Doelling (Riverside, NJ/Riverside[Rowan College at Burlington County]) got the start, tossing 1.1 innings and allowing two runs on one hit.
- Danny Kirwin (Lansdale, PA/North Penn) came on for was brilliant for 2.2 innings, but ran out of gas. He totaled five runs allowed on five hits, taking the loss. He struck out three.
- Kyle Smith (Stratford, NJ/Sterling) tossed a scoreless 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.
- Joe Papeo (Matawan, NJ/Old Bridge) fought through 1.2 scoreless innings, striking out one and allowing just one hit.
- Cal Stalzer (West Des Moines, IA/Valley[Kirkwood CC/George Washington]) threw the final inning, giving up two runs, his first two runs allowed in the tournament, after previously tossing 7.1 scoreless.
- Stalzer, Papeo, and O'Donnell were named to the All-Tournament Team.
- O'Donnell finishes his record-setting season with 20 home runs, a new single-season program record, crushing the previous record of 17. He also drove in 58 runs, two shy of the single-season program record.
- Rider's .976 team fielding percentage this season is the highest in program history.
 
Broncs by the Numbers
- Five Broncs recorded hits in the game, led by three from Winsett.
- Lesch's home run is his 11^th of the year.
- This was Rider's fourth trip to the Championship Series under Davis, previously making it in 2008, 10, and 21.