Broncs shutout UMBC in first win
By Benjamin Shinault
With rainy and miserable conditions up and down the East Coast, Rider baseball didn’t see much action to start March,as their games against Monmouth and Lafayette were canceled. Rider did hit the field and got its first win of the season on March 1 when they took down the Retrievers of University of Maryland, Baltimore County, 2-0.
Sophomore pitcher PJ Craig got the start for the Broncs with impressive play, not allowing a run in seven innings and striking out four batters.
“PJ was magnificent, tossing seven scoreless innings,” Head Coach Barry Davis said after the game to Rider Athletics.
Rider’s pitching staff as a whole was stellar as it only allowed three total hits; however, the rotation did allow some free passes, as the Retrievers accumulated nine walks over the nine innings played.
The Broncs offense is still struggling to get bat on ball, as they were able to get two runs across the plate. Those two runs were the result of RBI double’s by senior catcher Brian Skettini and graduate student first baseman Luke Lesch.
“We had big hits from Skettini and Lesch,” Davis said.
With the win, the Broncs finally get their first victory out of the way. Despite its 1-6 record, Rider has done pretty well when it comes to certain categories in comparison to their Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rivals.
Rider is ranked as the sixth best pitching team in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference and is the best fielding team with a fielding percentage of 0.983%.
The Broncs have had their fair share of tough opponents to open up their 2024 campaign, with the coming weeks expected to be difficult as they face familiar foes with some of those games being played at home at Sonny Pittaro Field. The Broncs will return to their home dugouts on March 6 at 2 p.m. when the Fairleigh Dickinson Knights come to town. The game will be broadcast on BroncVision.
