Baseball splits with Canisius in three close games

By Logan VanDine

Baseball battled to win two of four games against Canisius College on April 25 and April 26, and two of the four games were decided by only one run.

Game 1

The Broncs were overpowered by the Golden Griffins, losing the opening game 8-0.

Rider was only able to muster two hits the entire game as the Golden Griffins had a three-run fourth and a four-run fifth, easily winning 8-0.

“We brought very little to the game; we were totally outplayed in all areas,” said Head Coach Barry Davis on Saturday’s first game.

Game 2

In the second game of the doubleheader, the Broncs were able to put some runs on the board and take game two by a score of 4-3.

Despite committing two costly errors in the game, the Broncs rallied with a run in the eighth by an RBI groundout by senior outfielder Socrates Bardatsos, which proved to be enough for Rider to avoid the sweep.

Davis was much more pleased with his team’s effort in game two.

“We showed some grit and found a way to push four runs across,” Davis said.

Game 3

The Broncs took game three by a score of 5-2 behind a great day with the bat from graduate student outfielder Sean McGeehan and a great pitching performance by junior starting pitcher Frank Doelling.

Davis talked about his team’s overall performance in both games.

“We competed from start to finish all day. It’s something we didn’t do on Sunday. It was nice to see,” said Davis on his team’s performance in both April 26 games.

Doelling went the distance striking out five batters over seven innings just allowing the two runs and three hits for the complete game win.

“I definitely did think I had what it took to finish that ballgame,” said Doelling when asked if he believed he could pitch a complete game. “Early on I knew my fastball command was the best it had been all year, and that kept my pitch count low enough to where it allowed me to finish.”

Davis spoke about how important it was for his starter to complete the whole game and saving some arms in his bullpen.

“Frank did a great job finishing what he started. It was a big lift for us not having to use anyone out of the pen with a nine inning game to follow,” said Davis.

Doelling also talked about how helpful Davis has been to the team.

“Coach Davis has been great for us this year as expected. He expects a lot out of us players, and when we don’t play up to our potential, he lets us know about it, which is great for us. He expects excellence out of us players and it shows he truly cares and that goes a long way for us as a baseball team,” said Doelling.

McGeehan went one for three, driving in three runs with two of them coming off a two-run homer in a three-run sixth inning.

This proved to be huge for the Broncs as they were able to take care of business and win 5-2.

Game 4

Rider couldn’t quite get it done in game four falling 5-4 in nine innings.

The Broncs fell behind early trailing 3-0 after four innings but stormed back with a run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to grab a 4-3 lead.

That lead was all for naught as the Golden Griffins stormed right back with a run in the sixth to tie.

Davis spoke about the tough one run loss in game two.

“When you lose by one run, it’s usually the head coach who’s at fault. I could have done a few things differently, but I chose other avenues. It didn’t work out,” said Davis.

The Broncs are 13-11 on the season with their next game at home against Marist College on April 28th at Sonny Pittaro Field.