LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ– The Rider University Baseball team continued its historic start to MAAC play, sweeping its second straight series over conference foes by defeating Saint Peter's 8-4. With the win, Rider moves to 9-14 and 6-0 in the MAAC while Saint Peter's moves to 7-22 and 1-5 in conference.
Rider came out strong, firing across a pair of runs in the first as Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) and Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood) crossed home plate putting Rider up 2-0 after one. The Peacocks however continued to battle and found the lead after a three-run inning in the top of the third.
Rider managed to tie the game up a half inning later with one run in the bottom of the third. In the inning, Winsett came around to score for the second time on the afternoon moving around bases courtesy of a passed ball, ground out, and finally scoring off a wild pitch tying the game at three.
The reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Week, Brian Young (Neptune, NJ/Communication), got back on track following a rocky third inning, sitting down the Peacocks in order in the fourth including one of his nine strikeouts on the day. Young went on to pitch seven innings including four-straight scoreless frames with the nine strikeouts being a new career-best.
Rider's offense surged late again, rallying in the final three innings for five runs including four unanswered in the sixth and seventh. In the sixth, Erich Hartmann (Medford, NJ/Shawnee) moved runners to the corners with his first hit of the day, and a moment later Anthony Paskell (Solon, OH/Saint Ignatius) drove in Winsett for his sixth RBI of the series, giving the lead to the Broncs at 4-3.
The big Broncs' inning came in the seventh, where Rider saw three runs come in to score giving Rider a 7-3 lead. The Broncs loaded the bases with two outs and Hartmann again started the rally for Rider by driving in Joe Tiroly (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) giving Rider a 5-3 lead. Paskell drove in the next run earning a bases-loaded walk, and the inning was capped off by Matt Leahy (Woolwich, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) continuing the damage with a base hit to the right side scoring Richie Sica (Wyckoff, NJ/Ramapo) putting Rider up 7-3.
In the eighth, Saint Peter's tallied one run but it was quickly matched as the Broncs loaded the bases for a second straight inning and Winsett came around to score for the third time on the day.
Quotes and Notes
"It's always good to sweep an opponent, but you go back and look it's our best start in the conference in team history. We have some tough series coming up but we put ourselves in a great spot to try and make the tournament if we continue to play well" –
Rider Baseball Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
"I thought BY (Young) was good he had one tough inning but got out of it and after that, he settled in and we were able to pick them off a little bit." –
Rider Baseball Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
"We battled, had some strong at-bats got some walks, and had runners on. Paskell had a big weekend driving in a lot of runs when we struggled to drive guys in. We got the hits when we needed them and we were able to grind out the win."–
Rider Baseball Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis
- Young got the win by pitching seven innings with only three earned runs and a career-best nine strike outs.
- Colby McNeely rounded out the contest and pitched a scoreless inning.
Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider had eight hits on the day with Winsett, Skettini, Tiroly, Hartmann, Paskell, and Matt Leahy (Woolwich, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) all recording hits in the game.
- Paskell and Hartmann both recorded multiple hits in the win
- Winsett moved his on-base streak to nine games and his hit streak to seven.
- Skettini moved his on-base streak with 16, and his hit streak to seven games.
- Costanzo also moved his on-base streak to 16 games.
Up Next
The Broncs continue Liberty Bell Classic action vs Lehigh on Tuesday April 2nd at 3:00 PM
