Rider Defeats Marist, 10-7, in MAAC Baseball Championship
MAAC Sports
Box Score
Fishkill, NY - Third-seeded Rider defeated second-seeded Marist, 10-7, in the second game of the 2010 MAAC Baseball Championship at Dutchess Stadium in Fishkill, N.Y. The Broncs have now won 14 of their last 16 games.
The Broncs jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the top of the first on three hits, two hit batsmen, two walks and an error. The biggest hit of the inning was a two-run single by junior Mason Heyne that gave Rider a 2-0 lead.
Marist (33-21), the defending MAAC Champions, took a 6-5 lead with five runs in the second inning on three hits, including a three-run triple, a pair of costly walks and a hit batsman.
Nick Wojnowski led off the fifth inning with a home run to tie the score at 6-6. Sophomore Brandon Cotten hit a two-run single, his third hit of the game, that gave the Broncs an 8-6 lead. Junior A.J. Albee led off the sixth inning with a double, went to third on a wild pitch and scored on an error to give Rider a 9-6 lead. Albee scored two runs to give him 58 for the season, a new Rider record. Wojnowski hit his second of the game, a 425-plus foot shot to centerfield, to give Rider a 10-6 lead in the eighth inning.
Junior Mike Thomas, the MAAC Pitcher of the Year, pitched seven and one-third innings, allowing nine hits while striking out three and walked a season-high five, leaving the game with a 10-7 lead. Freshman Tyler Smith pitched the final inning and two-thirds for the save, his eighth.
Rider advances to the winner's bracket where it will face top-seeded Canisius at 7:00 p.m. on Thursday. Marist will meet fourth-seeded Manhattan in a 3:00 p.m. contest.
Click here to watch post-game interviews with Rider's Barry Davis and Nick Wojnowski.