to LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ– Led by another late-game rally, the Rider University baseball team clinched their second straight Liberty Bell Classic Championship game appearance as they defeated Lehigh, 12-4, on Tuesday afternoon. With the win, Rider extends their win streak to 11 while moving to 13-14, and Lehigh drops to 18-13-1.

The Mountain Hawks gave the Broncs a shock out of the gates, powering a pair of runs past them in the top of the first. However, the Broncs found their way out without allowing any major damage in the first inning. 

Rider responded to the two run inning in the first with a run of their own in the bottom of the second. The lone run of the frame was scored by Matt Shepherd (Drexel Hill,PA/Monsignor Bonner|Rowan College of South Jersey) who came in off a Matt Leahy (Woolwich, NJ/ Gloucester Catholic) infield fly to the shortstop that was dropped, allowing Shepherd to score to cut the lead to one. 

Both sides exchanged runs in the third and fourth innings with Rider matching the run scored in the top of the third with a solo homer from Rider's home run leader Brian Skettini (Midland Park, NJ/Ridgewood), driving a ball to left field earning his fourth home run of the season and his first at home in 2024. In the fourth, Leahy drove in his second run of the day scoring Anthony Paskell (Solon, OH/Saint Ignatius) on a base hit into the gap in left center to re-cut the lead to one.

In the fifth, Rider tied the game for the first time on the afternoon as Joe Tiroly (Yardley, PA/Pennsbury) drove in Jack Winsett (Voorhees, NJ/Eastern Regional) on a sacrifice fly. 

The Broncs continued their scoring run for the fifth straight inning, as in the sixth Matt Leahy (Woolwich, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) drove a ball to deep left field giving Rider a 5-4 lead for the first time in the contest. Following the Leahy bomb the Broncs would not surrender the lead the rest of the afternoon. 

In the seventh the Broncs exploded for five runs, starting with Tiroly adding his second RBI of the day on a knock to left giving Rider a two run lead. Skettini added the next run scoring off a passed ball extending the Rider lead to three and a moment later Erich Hartmann (Medford, NJ/ Shawnee) had the biggest hit of the inning driving in a pair off a two-run triple, shot into the right-center gap. The inning was capped off by Paskell driving in his fellow outfielder Hartmann to give Rider a massive lead late in the afternoon. 

Rider ended the day by plating a pair of runs in the eighth, capping off seven-straight scoring frames to secure the win 12-4 and clinching a spot in the Liberty Bell Classic Finals tomorrow afternoon vs Delaware.

Quotes and Notes
"It's fun it's always fun to go down to that ball park and play. We got Delaware again I'm sure they want a little piece of us after last year's game. It's good we were able to throw strike and put the ball in play, we struggled on the mound early a bit but Chrisitan Aiello (Hewitt, NJ/West Milford) and Jake Dorety (Burlington, NJ/Burlington TWP) were good after not pitching for a bit. We are doing what it takes to win; catching the ball, making some plays, getting some big hits, taking advantage of their mistakes" – Rider Baseball Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis 

• Aiello got the win, going four scoreless innings with three strikeouts.
• Rider's 11-game winning streak is the second-longest active streak in the country.

Broncs by the Numbers
 - Rider had 11 hits on the day with Winsett, Skettini,Tiroly, Hartmann, Paskell, Leahy, and Luke Lesch (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester Catholic) all recording a hit. 
- Skettini moved his hit streak to 11 games and on-base streak to 20.  
- Lesch has now reached in all 27 games played this year. 
- Leahy has now driven in multiple runs in each of his last three contests (seven combined).
- Tiroly has now driven in a run in each of his last three games (six combined).

Up Next
The Broncs continue Liberty Bell Classic action vs Delaware on April 10th at 4:00 PM at Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia.