LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ- The Rider University baseball team dropped their first series in MAAC play falling to Niagara 15-10 on Sunday afternoon. With the loss, Rider falls to 21-18 and 12-3 in the MAAC, and Niagara moves to 26-12 and 13-2 in the MAAC.
The first inning had sparks fly for both sides with Niagara kicking things off with four runs, including a three-run homer from Eric Rataczak to highlight the four-run top of the first.
However, the Broncs struck back with a four spot in the bottom of the first to match the early offense from the Purple Eagles. Rider started the inning with three straight base runners, starting with a leadoff base hit from Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern) and a walk from Matt Shepherd (Drexel Hill, PA/Monsignor Bonner/Rowan College of South Jersey). Winsett came in to score first off an opposite-field base hit from Joe Tiroly (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury). The swarm of runs from the Broncs came with two outs in the inning as Kyle Neri kicked off his season-best outing, driving in Shepherd on a base hit to center field. The final two runs to tie the game at four came from a pair of singles to the right side from Justin Costanzo (East Greenwich, N.J./Gloucester Catholic/Widener) and AJ Labrusciano (Fredericksburg, VA/North Stafford) capping off a four-run first for the Broncs as well.
After blanking Niagara in the top of the second, the Broncs gave the Purple Eagles some deja vu with another four-run inning. Again the two top hitters in the order, Winsett and Shepherd would reach safely, and Winsett would score a moment later following a Niagara pitching change off a ground rule double from Tiroly. Anthony Paskell (Solon, OH/Saint Ignatius) got in on the fun, driving in Shepherd on an RBI base hit to center extending the Broncs' lead to two. The final two runs of the inning came off another big hit from Neri doubling in the left-center gap driving in a pair to go ahead 8-4.
The Broncs offense went quiet in the middle three inning allowing Niagara to fight back and eventually take the lead following runs in the fourth and fifth and three runs in the sixth.
In the seventh, Rider refused to give up the lead without a fight as Neri added another extra-base hit tripling to lead off the inning. After a pitching change for Niagara, Labrusciano stayed hot on the day driving in Neri tying the game at nine in the bottom of the seventh.
In the eighth, both sides traded runs starting off with the Purple Eagles taking the lead off a solo home run from Gavin Schrader. Rider did not go away, however, as Neri was the big hit guy, scoring Tiroly on a base hit to the left side of the infield tying the game at 10.
In the ninth the Niagara offense was too strong tallying five runs in the final inning to secure a 15-10 win to move into the top spot in the MAAC.
Quotes and Notes
-"It was a hard fought game, give credit to Niagara. We have still have everything in front of us to play for. Today was a tough loss, but we will be fine."- Rider Head Coach Dr Barry Davis
- Christian Aiello got the loss pitching two and a third innings allowing three runs on four hits.
Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider had 15 hits with Winsett, Shepherd, Tiroly, Paskell, Neri, Costanzo, and Labrusciano all getting a hit on the day.
- Winsett has earned a walk in 11 straight games and is leading the MAAC with 43.
- Neri, Shepherd, Tiroly, and Labrusciano all had multi-hit games.
- Winsett and Tiroly move their on-base streaks to 11 games.
- Neri went 4/5 with four RBIs. The four hits on the day is a new season best for Neri.
- Labrusciano went 3/5 with two RBIs which are both new career highs.
Up Next
The Broncs travel to Mount St Mary's on Friday, May 3rd at 3 PM
