EDISON, NJ – After back-to-back trips to the MAAC title game, including a championship victory following the 2021 season, the Rider University baseball team earned a single first place vote and was selected third ahead of the 2023 season. Four Broncs earned Preseason All-MAAC Team honors.
Defending MAAC Champion, Canisius, was selected as the favorite, earning seven of the 11 coaches first-place votes. Fairfield, the 2021 and '22 regular season champions, earned a pair of first-place votes and was selected second in the poll.
Following the Broncs, Marist earned the remaining first-place vote, finishing fourth in the poll. Niagara and Manhattan were picked as the remaining MAAC Tournament teams by the league's coaches. Quinnipiac, newcomer Mount St. Mary's, Siena, Iona, and Saint Peter's round out the poll.
Brendan O'Donnell (Malvern, PA/Great Valley), a Second-Team All-MAAC selection and MAAC All-Tournament Team honoree in 2022 and 2023 Preseason All-American, returns to anchor a veteran lineup for the Broncs that returns eight of nine batters from a season ago. O'Donnell was named to the Preseason All-MAAC team after hitting a Rider-record 20 home runs.
Joining O'Donnell on the Preseason All-MAAC Team are junior catcher
Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood), senior first baseman
Luke Lesch (Gloucester Township, NJ/Gloucester Catholic), and graduate pitcher
Frank Doelling (Riverside, NJ/Riverside).
Jordan Erbe (Toms River, NJ/Toms River South),
Socrates Bardatsos (Ridgefield, NJ/St. Joseph's Regional),
Scott Shaw (Cherry Hill, NJ/Cherry Hill West),
John Volpe (Sea Girt, NJ/Wall), and
Jack Winsett (Voorhees,NJ/Eastern) will return to help round out the lineup.
Bardatsos led the Broncs with a .294 average last season, and a .432 on base percentage, setting a new Rider mark with 44 walks. Lesch hit .275 with 11 home runs during the 2022 campaign. Volpe hit .281 and scored 41 runs for the Broncs a season ago. Winsett hit .277 with a strong glove at third base. Skettini hit .258, scoring 28 runs and driving in 27. Shaw battled through injuries, but hit .278 and scored 21 runs in 28 games. Erbe led the Broncs with 117 assists from the short stop position.
The rotation will be led by Doelling, who has struck out 143 batters in 145.1 innings in his three seasons with the Broncs and boasts a career ERA of 4.15.
Dylan Heine (Haddonfield, NJ/Haddonfield) pitched to a 4.29 ERA a season ago, and struck out 17 in 21 innings.
Brian Young (Neptune, NJ/Communication) struggled late last season, but had a strong showing over the summer in the Cape Cod league and is projected to be in the rotation to start the season.
The bullpen will be led by
Danny Kirwin (Lansdale, PA/North Penn), who went 3-2 with a 4.72 ERA and four saves a season ago. Kirwin struck out 54 in just 47.2 innings last season and should slide into the closer role.
The Broncs' season begins Friday, when the team travels to North Carolina for a season-opening four-game series at Gardner-Webb.
