Broncs win four straight, sweep Manhattan

By Benjamin Shinault

Rider baseball cannot seem to slow down, as it has now won eight of its last 10 games. With a win over the New Jersey Institute of Technology on April 9 and a sweep of the Manhattan Jaspers in a weather-shortened series, Rider climbed to third in the Metro Athletic Conference standings and are top six in pitching, fielding and hitting.

A Jersey rival 

On April 9, the Broncs took the hour-long bus ride to Yogi Berra Stadium at Montclair State University to take on NJIT. 

The Highlanders struck the Broncs hard and early, totaling three runs in the first inning with a double to left-center field and followed with a shot up the middle that scored two additional runs. In the second inning, NJIT brought another run in with a single up the middle, making it 4-0.

The starter on the mound was junior pitcher Chris Montone. His final line for the day was three innings pitched, four hits, two earned runs, three walks and two strikeouts. 

Down 4-0 entering the third, Rider found three runs off a bases-loaded walk and an RBI double by freshman first base Charley Magoulick to bring the Broncs within one run. 

In the next at-bat, Rider tied it with a sacrifice fly. Now with the score 4-4, the Broncs’ bullpen held firm. In six innings of relief work, Rider only allowed three hits, three walks and struck out four.

In the fourth inning, Rider got its first lead off a solo home run from sophomore infielder Joe Tiroly. 

The Broncs added to their lead in the ninth inning thanks to junior infielder Will Gallagher’s single up the middle which scored two runs, making the score 7-4.

The Highlanders could not scrounge up any runs in the bottom of the ninth, giving Rider the win. 

‘He just hits balls far’

With hard rain rolling in, the Broncs and Jaspers elected to play a doubleheader on April 13 rather than the planned three-game series.

Senior pitcher Brian Young put on another clinic. Young tossed seven scoreless innings, with just three hits, walking four and striking out four. 

Young has pitched six innings or more six times this season. Young is third in the MAAC in ERA, fourth in innings pitched, sixth in strikeouts and first in wins.

“Brian’s been great,” interim Head Coach Lee Lipinski said. “Every time he goes out there, we’re about to get six or seven innings and he’s one of the best pitchers in the conference.”

With Young cruising on the mound, Rider’s offense flourished, totaling seven hits and five runs.

Rider scored its first run in the first inning from a fielder’s choice and then added to it with a single to right field off the bat of Magoulick. 

The score remained 3-0 until the sixth inning when the Broncs added on with a throwing error attempting to snag sophomore infielder Matt Leahy stealing third. Now 4-0, Tiroly put the final stamp on the score with a single to left field to make it 5-0.

The finale of the Manhattan series was all Tiroly. Tiroly placed Rider on the board with a sacrifice fly which scored junior outfielder Anthony Paskell.

In the next inning, Manhattan put one over the wall to give them a 3-1 lead. 

On the mound for the Broncs in the series finale was junior pitcher Clayton Poliey, who had a tough time navigating the Jaspers lineup as he allowed four earned runs, four hits and walked three.

But for the Broncs, they have junior pitcher Gavin Hawkes in the bullpen. Hawkes relieved Poliey and took Manhattan completely out of the closely contested game.

Hawkes, in his six innings of relief, allowed zero hits, struck out six, a new career high, and walked three of the 20 batters he faced.

Hawkes’ 1.30 ERA is second in the country. For his continued dominance, Hawkes was named MAAC pitcher of the week on April 15.

“In the offseason, I just lifted a bunch and just made sure my body is ready to go for the regular season,” Hawkes said.

With the Jaspers up 3-1 to start the third inning, Tiroly stepped up to the plate with two men on, and as many of his teammates likely expected, Tiroly sent it sailing over the wall and gave Rider a 4-3 lead.

In their half of the third, the Jaspers tied it 4-4 with a home run of their own. 

Now 4-4 in the top of the seventh, heading out to the batter’s box was Tiroly, with two men on again, sending a sense of deja vu throughout the stadium. 

The pitch came and so did Tiroly’s powerful swing with the ball leaving the ballpark, giving Rider a 7-4 lead and resulting in Tiroly’s seven RBIs that day.

As of April 14, Tiroly is third in batting average in the MAAC, first in slugging percentage, second in on-base percentage, and first in RBIs and home runs. Tiroly’s 14 home runs are tied for fourth in the nation and his slugging percentage of .881 is fourth in the nation. Tiroly also hit a home run in six straight games. Tiroly was awarded MAAC player of the week, for the second time this season, for the week of April 15.

“He is wired to be a great baseball player,” Hawkes said to his former high school teammate Tiroly. “I don’t want to say it was expected because he’s having a crazy year but it kind of was, I’m not shocked that he is doing so well … he just hits balls far.”

The Jaspers could not add on, making Tiroly’s two three-run home runs enough to give the Broncs their second series sweep of the year and their sixth series win of the season.

“We’re playing good baseball, we’re pitching, we’re really pitching and that’s the key,” Lipinski said, “it starts on the mound.”

Rider will look ahead to its next opponent, the Princeton Tigers. First pitch will be at 3 p.m. on April 16. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.