Rider splits nonconference games, defeats Canisius

By Benjamin Shinault and Joshua Yuhas

The baseball looked like a beach ball for Rider in their latest Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference series against the Canisius University Golden Griffins, as the team put up 32 runs over the three game series. 

But before their MAAC home series, the Broncs faced the Saint Joseph’s University Hawks and came up short, 11-10.

The Broncs then faced off against the University of Delaware in a midweek matchup, in which they were victorious, 10-5.

Grand slam not grand enough

A leadoff triple and a sacrifice fly from senior right outfielder Erich Hartmann gave the Broncs a 1-0 lead to begin their March 25 matchup with the Hawks.

With runners on first and second base, junior catcher Nick Shuhet added on two more runs after roping a two-run single to close the first inning.

A pair of two-run home runs for the Hawks and a pair of RBI singles for the Broncs left a 5-4 Rider lead after three innings.

With the bases loaded, sophomore infielder Eliot Medlock launched a fourth-inning grand slam, but the Hawks quickly chipped back into the game.

Seven unanswered runs for the Hawks spanned from the fourth to seventh inning, sending Rider into the ninth trailing by two.

The Broncs got one run back after a single from senior third baseman Will Gallagher, but they struck out for the final two outs of the game, closing an 11-10 loss to Saint Joseph’s.

First place in the MAAC

The Saint Joseph’s loss was a tough one to swallow for the Broncs, but they got right back to work against their MAAC rival in the Golden Griffins.

Clouds covered the sky above Sonny Pittaro Field on March 27 when Rider faced Canisius. Toeing the mound for the Broncs in game one was senior pitcher PJ Craig.

Craig ran into some early trouble and put the Broncs in a 2-0 hole, but after a shaky third inning, Craig dialed in and finished with an impressive line of eight innings pitched, allowing just four hits and striking out three.

“He threw the ball well,” Acting Head Coach Barry Davis said, “He gave up two runs early, but for the most part, he was in control.”

Until the fifth inning, the Broncs were held without a hit. But in a blink of an eye, the Broncs surged and put up an astonishing 13 unearned runs in the fifth inning alone to get out to a 13-2 lead.

Later on in the seventh inning, the Broncs were able to add another run to the column off a fielder’s choice. Then, in the eighth inning, Rider added another unearned run to cap their scoring at 15 total runs. 

Gallagher turned in his bat for a glove in the ninth inning and closed out game one with a win for the Broncs, 15-3.

“My job was to come in and throw strikes,” Gallagher said. “It’s a quick turnaround going from third base to the pitcher’s mound.”

Game two of the series looked very different from game one, as the Broncs could not rummage up many runs, losing 8-2 to split the series at 1-1.

Chilly weather was the perfect pair to go with the Broncs offensive struggles. Rider was able to collect nine hits, but could not quite get the runners around the base path.

The Broncs first run of the game came from junior outfielder Kyle Neri who singled to score a run. Later in the sixth inning, sophomore designated hitter Peter Crespo doubled to center field to score another run, then that was it for Rider, as they lost 8-2, setting up the rubber match.

In game three, the Broncs found themselves in an early hole, once again, as they were down 2-0 by the end of the first inning.

An inning later, Rider was able to knot it up at two apiece with back-to-back RBI singles from junior infielder Matt Leahy and junior designated hitter Austin Cannon.

Leahy saw the ball very well in the series finale, as he finished with four hits and five RBI’s.

“Matt’s been working hard … He was able to put four quality at-bats together and he came up in big situations,” Davis said.

The third inning was huge for the Broncs, as they put six runs on the board to get out to an 8-3 lead.

Canisius was able to get two runs back in the fifth inning to make the score 8-5. The three-run deficit did not last long, as Hartmann launched a ball over the right field wall to score three runs, allowing the Broncs to hop out to a more commanding 11-5 lead. 

Both teams would add a few more runs, but the Broncs emerged on top, 15-7, to win the series and maintain first place in the MAAC standings.

Midweek victory

The Broncs winning ways were not done, as on March 31, Rider hit the road and drove south to the University of Delaware to face the Blue Hens.

On the mound for the Broncs was freshman pitcher Dylan Kane. Kane, over his five innings of work, struck out a batter and only allowed two earned runs, a walk and three hits.

Similar to the Canisius series, the Broncs fell into an early 2-0 hole, but were able to climb out of it in the third inning when Cannon shot a single up the middle to make the score 2-1. 

Then in the fifth inning, the Broncs exploded for seven runs.

Both Shuhet and Medlock recorded RBI doubles while Hartmann and freshman catcher Demetri Bardatsos cashed in one run each with singles.

In the very next inning, Medlock came through again with another RBI to make the score 9-2.

Medlock on the night had three doubles and two RBIs.

The Blue Hens were able to make things interesting in the seventh inning as they were able to get three runs across to close the gap to four runs.

But, the hope did not last too long, as the Broncs added an additional insurance run in the eighth inning from a Leahy double.

Another freshman arm came in to close it out in the ninth inning as Connor Flynn toed the mound and made quick work of Delaware, securing the 10-5 road victory.

The Broncs will be once again hosting a MAAC faceoff on April 2 when Marist University comes to town for a three-game series.

First pitch will be at 3 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+.