BUFFALO, NY – In a game filled with early offensive firepower and late-inning drama, the Rider baseball team jumped out to a commanding lead but couldn't hold off a surging Canisius comeback, falling 10-9 in Sunday's series finale.
Rider jumped out to an early lead in the top of the second, striking for three runs to open the scoring. Back-to-back walks set the table and prompted an early pitching change from Canisius.
The Broncs loaded the bases with a third walk, and
Anthony Paskell drove in the game's first run with a sacrifice fly.
Matt Leahy then executed a home steal, and
Joe Tiroly stayed hot with an RBI double to left, giving Rider a 3-0 advantage.
The Broncs added two more runs in the third thanks to three straight hits from
Will Gallagher,
Charley Magoulick, and Leahy, who brought in Gallagher with an RBI single.
Two batters later, Paskell came through again, ripping a two-run double to extend the lead to 5-0.
Canisius responded in the bottom half of the third, plating three runs to cut the deficit to 5-3.
In the fourth, Rider put runners on the corners after a leadoff single from Tiroly and a base hit by
Kyle Neri.
Nick Shuhet followed with a two-run single, pushing the lead to 8-3 with no outs.
Tiroly added another RBI in the fifth with his second double of the day, making it 9-3. But the Golden Griffins refused to go away, answering with three runs of their own in the bottom of the fifth to close the gap to 9-6.
The Canisius bats stayed hot in the seventh. A two-run single from J. Spinosa made it a one-run game at 9-8. In the eighth, pinch hitter T. Hoover led off with a solo home run to tie things at 9-9.
With one out and two runners on,
Zach Silfies came in to relieve
Jack Ruditzky. Though the Broncs turned a 6-4-3 double play to end the inning, the go-ahead run had already scored, putting Canisius ahead 10-9.
Rider was unable to mount a comeback in the ninth to drop the series finale.
Quotes and Notes
-
Jack Ruditzky got the loss, moving him to 1-4 on the year.
- The Broncs drop to 30-16 overall and 20-6 in the MAAC.
Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider had 13 hits in the loss, with Paskell, Neri, Shuhet, Gallagher, and Leahy each recording one hit.
- Hartmann and Magoulick each had two hits.
- Tiroly led the way with four hits.
- Leahy recorded one RBI, with Shuhet and Tiroly recording two RBI.
- Paskell led the team with three RBI.
- Four Broncs saw action on the mound with
Clayton Poliey,
Colby McNeely,
Jack Ruditzky, and
Zach Silfies
Up Next
The Broncs return to action for their regular season finale against Fairfield on Sonny Pittaro Field on May 15.
First pitch is set for 3 p.m.
