LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ - Canisius used early offense and steady pitching to defeat the Rider baseball team, 8-2, on Saturday afternoon, setting up a rubber match in Sunday's series finale. The Broncs fall to 13-7 (9-2 MAAC) while Canisius improves to 6-14 (3-5 MAAC).

The Golden Griffins jumped out in front with a run in the second before adding three more in the third to build a 4-0 lead.

Rider threatened in the fifth and broke through with two outs, as Will Gallagher drew a walk and Erich Hartmann followed with a single. After a wild pitch moved both runners into scoring position, Kyle Neri lined an RBI single to get the Broncs on the board.

Canisius answered with a run in the sixth to extend its lead, but Rider responded in the bottom half. With two outs, Peter Crespo delivered an RBI double to cut the deficit to three, 5-2

The Golden Griffins threatened again in the seventh, loading the bases with two outs, but Jake Dorety worked out of the jam with a pickoff at third to limit the damage to just one run.

Canisius added two insurance runs in the ninth to stretch the lead to 8-2. Rider put two runners on in the bottom half but was unable to capitalize, as the Golden Griffins secured the win.

The Broncs will look to bounce back in Sunday's rubber match.

Quotes and Notes
"We just didn't do enough today. We didn't string together quality at-bats, and on the mound, we weren't as sharp as we needed to be. You have to give them credit, though they swung the bats well, and their guy filled up the zone and threw strikes. We didn't really challenge him much, and we never got our offense going.

It happens. You're not going to win them all, but you still expect to play better than we did today. That was the main message to the team: we just need to be better tomorrow. We just didn't execute. We didn't hit the ball hard consistently, and overall, they were better than us today." - Acting Head Coach Dr. Barry Davis

- Gallagher and Neri each extended their on-base streaks to 20 games, while Anthony Paskell pushed his hitting streak to nine. 
- Neri and Eliot Medlock also extended their hitting streaks to eight games, as seven starters recorded at least one hit.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Rider totaled nine hits in the loss, with Hartmann and Charley Magoulick leading the way with two-hit performances.
- Gallagher, Neri, Paskell, Medlock, and Crespo each added a hit, while Neri and Crespo accounted for the Broncs' two RBIs.
- Kyle Batt made the start, tossing 5.2 innings while allowing seven hits and five runs with three strikeouts. 
- Jake Dorety followed with 1.1 innings of relief, giving up four hits and one run while striking out one. 
- Dylan Kane added 1.1 innings, allowing one hit and one run with one strikeout, before Conner Flynn closed out the game, surrendering two hits and one run in 0.2 innings.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action on March 29 for a winner-take-all matchup against Canisius at Sonny Pittaro Field. 
First pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. on ESPN+.