PRINCETON, NJ- The Rider University baseball team had a successful trip up Route 206 as they defeated local rival Princeton 11-3 on Wednesday afternoon.  With the win, Rider moves to 16-16 and Princeton falls to 10-20 on the year.

The Broncs started the day loading the bases in the first frame with two walks and a hit-by-pitch. the Broncs capitalized on the Tigers' pitching woes, as a fourth-straight free pass was awarded to Anthony Paskell (Solon, OH/Saint Ignatius) after being hit-by-pitch, scoring Luke Lesch (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) to put the Broncs up 1-0.

Kyle Neri (Williamstown, N.J./St. Augustine Prep|Bryant) added to the Broncs' early lead with a three-run homer extending the Rider lead to 4-0 in the top of the third. The blast was the fourth of the season for the redshirt freshman to start the big day for the Broncs outfielder, where he would finish a triple shy of the cycle. 

The Tigers did find an answer in the fourth and fifth however, getting on the board for the first time on the day with a solo home run in the fourth, cutting the lead to three. The following inning Princeton again had a Tiger leave the yard to make it a one-run ball game after five.

After the big shot in the fifth Rider fired back with a big extra-base hit of their own as Justin Costanzo (East Greenwich, N.J./Gloucester Catholic/Widener) doubled down the right field line, scoring a pair of runs to open up the late game offense for the Broncs. A moment later Neri brought Costanzo in on a sacrifice fly to round out the three-run sixth.

In the sixth, seventh, and eighth the Broncs saw three scoreless frames from Christian Aiello (Hewitt, NJ West Milford) who was stellar in relief. Aiello tallied seven punch outs in his middle-relief appearance while allowing only one hit, keeping the Tigers scoreless in his three innings. 

In the eighth, the Broncs again put a crooked number on the board loading the bases in the inning due in part to a pair of hit-by-pitches, the first of the two runs scored in the inning came from Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood), who would also be hit-by-pitch marking the 10th Rider batter hit-by-pitch which tied the nations single-game record this season. The next Rider run came from Nick Shuhet (Mountain Lakes, NJ/Mountain Lakes), who came across on a wild pitch to go ahead 9-3.

The scoring capped off in the top of the ninth when Neri again came up big with an RBI double putting two in scoring position in the final frame. Matt Leahy (Woolwich, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) wrapped things up with an RBI ground out to put Rider up 11-3.

Colby McNeely (Milmont Park, PA/The Haverford School) came in for the ninth to close things out leaving two runners stranded in the final inning to secure the win over Princeton.

 Quotes and Notes 
-"Solid pitching from our starter Chris Montone (Williamstown, NJ/Williamstown), It's the best he's thrown all year. Aiello was terrific as well. We played solid defensively and had some key hits by Neri and Costanzo. It's nice to see. There are plenty of details we need to continue to work on. We will keep getting better if we stay focused on the work we need to do. We are looking forward to the opportunity we have at Maine." Rider Head Coach Dr Barry Davis 

- Monotone got the win going five innings allowing three runs on five hits with five strikeouts.
- Aiello went three innings allowing one hit and one run unearned with a career-high seven strikeouts.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider had eight hits with Skettini, Neri, Costanzo, Leahy, Joe Tiroly (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) and Richie Sica (Wyckoff, NJ Ramapo) recording hits in the contest.
- Paskell moves on-base streak to 13.
- Lesch has reached in all 32 games played this year. 
- Rider was hit-by-pitch 10 times which ties a NCAA single-game season high. (Coastal Carolina 3/12 vs Wake Forrest and Northeastern 3/22 vs Hofstra)

Up Next
The Broncs get ready for a non-conference series at Maine this weekend starting on Friday, April 19th at 3 PM.