Baseball Heaven
Rider winsforce rivals to look up in standings

By Brian Pawelko

Hard work and optimism are starting to pay dividends for the Rider men’s baseball team.

In spite of an April 19 loss to Monmouth — a team that, according to Coach Barry Davis, “has Rider’s number” — Rider has won nine out of its last 14 games and sits tied for second with Manhattan in the MAAC conference.

“I don’t think our record early in the season really showed what our team was made of,” Davis said, making reference to Rider’s unsatisfactory 0-11 start. “But over time, the team has developed chemistry and learned to play better together, and it has shown.”

With victories in five of their last six games, Rider played at Iona last Saturday in a doubleheader. The Bronc bats were on fire, but once again they found themselves down early, courtesy of a two-run homer by Iona senior Nick Conte in the first inning. Thanks to solid hitting, Rider was able to re-group in the fifth. A two-run home run by senior Tom Letizia was the highlight of a 21-hit outing that sank Iona 12-6.

“The key to the team’s recent success has been the hitting,” Davis said. “The pitching is up, sure, but the hitting has been enormous.”

In the second of two games, Rider kept its focus and played well on both ends of the field. The team continued its hot hitting with a three-run second inning, anchored by a two-run shot by freshman James Hayes. The team’s pitching was solid, led by seven strong innings from freshman Jim Kennedy. Kennedy finished with six strikeouts and a mere two runs on four hits. The Broncs remained consistent on both sides of the playing field — something the team had trouble with early on in the season — and outlasted Iona in the second game by a final score of 8-2.

Rider finished its series with Iona looking for a sweep on Monday afternoon. The game was a pitchers duel, with both teams stranding many runners on base. Rider fell behind in the sixth inning on some timely hitting and good base running by Iona. The Broncs scored in the seventh, bridging the gap to one run, but they were never able to pull ahead. The Broncs finished the game with nine hits, but also stranded nine runners. Iona beat Rider in a nailbiter with a final score of 3-2.

On Tuesday, the Broncs traveled to the University of Pennsylvania to face the Quakers of the Ivy League. Rider once again started behind, but struck in the fourth inning, scoring four runs on four hits. Both teams did an excellent job of driving in runners, yielding a high-scoring game.

The Broncs were down by one run going into the eighth inning, but were given the lead after a two-run homer by senior Gene Crimoli. This put the Broncs on top and gave them the victory by a final score of 10-8. Rider clubbed 10 hits and scored 10 runs, but still left nine runners on base.

The Broncs returned home on Wednesday to face Monmouth, which has given Rider its fair share of trouble thus far this season. Rider lost to Monmouth in its first meeting by a whopping 14 runs, but only by a single run in extra innings in the second game.

The game included numerous amounts of hits, with 29 combined by both teams. The Broncs took a big blow in the fourth inning as a result of “small ball” playing by the Hawks. Monmouth scored its six runs on seven hits, only stranding one runner. Rider picked away at the lead — and at one point, according to Coach Davis, had the chance to win, down only 7-6 — but was not able to pull it out.

The Broncs are gearing up for a big series this weekend against first-place Niagara, a series that Davis considers “the most important series thus far this season.”

“If we lose the series, it’ll be hard for us to come back,” said Davis. “The teams with the four best records make the [MAAC] tournament at the end of the year, so it’s important that we keep our momentum rolling.”

With a two-game sweep over the Purple Eagles, the Broncs would be tied for first in the MAAC.

“If we can tie for first, that’d be big,” said Davis. “After that, we have somewhat control of our destiny.”

In truth, Niagara isn’t the only team that poses a legitimate threat to Rider’s uphill swing. Marist and Le Moyne are one game back of Rider; Siena and Fairfield are only two. And then, of course, there’s Manhattan, who possibly poses the greatest threat.

“The top seven teams are looking good,” said Davis. “We’ll be ready for them.”