College Baseball: Rider Splits Double Header with Wofford College

Spartanburg, S.C.—The Rider University baseball team split a two-game series at Wofford on Tuesday, breaking a four-game losing streak. “Certainly, we want to play well and win,” said Head Coach Barry Davis. “It was important that when we faced some adversity in the second game, we fought through it.”

 

In the nightcap, with the game tied at four, Bronc junior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) led off the seventh with a double, eventually scoring on a fielders choice by freshman Mason Heyne (Shrewsbury, Pa./Susquehannock) to give Rider a 5-4 lead.

 

Hayes pitched the final one and one-third innings with three strikeouts, picking up his first win of the year.

“Throughout the year, Jamie has been versatile for us,”

Davis

said. “He’s played right, second base and pitched. I normally don’t want to bring in my closer in the sixth of a seven inning game or the eighth of a nine inning game. He really kept us in it and did his job. He wasn’t lights out but he battled and then hit a big lead off double. It didn’t come easy but it was a well fought game and Jamie took it upon himself to shut them down in the last inning. He did a good job.”

 

The Broncs scored twice in the third inning on an RBI single by junior Sean Olson (Vineland/St. Augustine Prep) and a sacrifice fly from junior Maurice Williams (Ocean/Monmouth Regional) to lead 2-0.  Olson and Williams each have 98 career hits for the Broncs.

 

Rider (7-6) increased its lead to 4-1, scored twice in the sixth when freshman John Ralston (Annandale, Va. /Paul VI) hit his first collegiate home run, scoring sophomore Matt McCollum (Tabernacle/Shawnee) who hit a one-out double.

 

“Ralston’s home run turned out to be pretty big,” said

Davis

. “It put us up three runs.”

 

Wofford tied the game with thee runs in the bottom of the sixth.

 

Junior Derek Caldwell (Allentown, Pa./Salisbury) had his best outing since missing two seasons recovering from Tommy John surgery, pitching four and one-third innings, allowing three hits and one earned run while recording three strikeouts.

 

“I thought today was a big step in Derek’s development to come back,” said

Davis

. “He looked sharp right from the get go and had command of the situation. It was hard for him today because he thought he would pitch on Wednesday and about noon, we decided to play a doubleheader to beat the weather coming in tomorrow. He had to make some mental adjustments. Derek came out and looked like a seasoned pitcher, throwing three pitches with good velocity. He competed well.”

 

In the opener, senior David Hayes (

Sunrise

, Fla./American Heritage) hit a two-run double to get Rider on the board, cutting the Wofford lead to 3-2 in the fourth inning.

 

Trailing 6-2 in the seventh, junior James Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) hit a one-out RBI double and freshman Steve Galella (Wilkes-Barre, Pa./G.A.R. Memorial) followed with  an RBI single to bring the Broncs to within two at 6-4 before an inning ending double play sealed the game for Wofford.

 

“Wofford is 14-5,” said

Davis

. “We battled in both games, the first game we just couldn’t get that big hit. We got it close and overall it was a positive day.”

 

Junior pitcher Dan Sasso (Bordentown) went four innings, allowing five earned runs with one strikeout for the Broncs.

 

Rider hosts Manhattan in a three-game Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series starting Friday at 3:00pm and the teams are scheduled for a Saturday doubleheader at noon. All of the games will be at Sonny Pittaro Field on the

Rider

University

campus.

 

“Being home will certainly benefit us,”

Davis

added. “It will give us a chance to work in some familiar areas. The 13 game road trip will hopefully help us down the road in some big games.

Manhattan

has been a thorn in our side since I’ve been at Rider. I know we’ll be ready to play and we’ll want to do well, the question is can we and will we?”

 

-RU-