Go West, Young Broncs

After claiming its first-ever victory in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Baseball Championship, the Rider University baseball team will head to Fullerton, Ca., to play the host school, Cal State-Fullerton, in the NCAA Regional Tournament on Friday, May 30. “We’re excited,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “Seeing our name on the television selection show made everyone realize we’re part of something pretty big.” Rider will play Cal State-Fullerton at 11 p.m. Eastern Daylight Time in a game televised on ESPNU.

At 29-26, Rider is the No. 4 seed in the four-team Fullerton Regional and will first meet top-seed Cal-State Fullerton (37-19), co-champions of the Big West. The Titans are also the fifth-ranked team in the entire 64-team NCAA tournament.

The other teams in the Fullerton Regional include No. 2 seed UCLA (31-25) and the third-seeded University of Virginia (38-21). UCLA and Virginia will play at 7 p.m. EDT. “It is a great opportunity to be mentioned with those teams,” Davis said. “We’re playing three premier college baseball programs in the country, and we’ll be out there with them, competing.”

The NCAA Baseball Tournament consists of 16 four-team Regionals. The 16 winners of the double-elimination format pair up to play in eight best-of-three games Super Regionals from June 6-9. The eight Super Regional winners advance to the College World Series in Omaha, Neb., beginning on June 14. Cal State-Fullerton advanced to the College World Series last year. “Maybe they’ll overlook us a little bit,” Davis said.

Rider earned the right to travel to the west coast by knocking off Siena in the MAAC Baseball Championship at Mercer County Waterfront Park on Saturday, May 24. Rider was 2-0 in the double-elimination tournament, needing just one win for its first MAAC title and first league championship since winning the Northeast Conference in 1996. Siena was 2-1 in the tournament and needed to beat Rider twice Saturday.

After losing the first game, 9-8, in 10 innings, the Broncs came back to defeat the Saints, 12-5, in the final to become champions of the MAAC. “I think it was deserved, the way we persevered,” Davis said. “It showed some character, the guys didn’t quit, and with a young team like this it could be something we can build on.” The Broncs will lose just three players to graduation after the 2008 season.

Junior James Hayes of Sunrise, Fla., was named the tournament MVP. “He closed two games, played right field well, ran the bases well and hit the ball. He does it all,” said Davis of Hayes, who was also the MAAC Relief Pitcher of the Year, a first-team All-MAAC Utility Player and the New Jersey Division I Player of the Year in 2008.

A Virginia native, Davis has close ties with the Cavaliers’ program. “I know their entire coaching staff and growing up in Virginia, I’ve seen what they have done with that program,” Davis said. “I’ve seen them grow, so we’re honored to be mixed in with these fine programs. I can’t imagine any other Regional with this great baseball tradition, and I personally feel privileged and honored to be a part of it.”

Rider will be competing in its ninth NCAA Regional since 1984 and first since 1994. This will be Rider’s first Regional since the new 64-team format was adopted in 1999. “This says that all of the hard work has paid off,” Davis said.

The Broncs played in the NCAA Regionals in 1984, 1985, 1986, 1987, 1989, 1991, 1992 and 1994. Rider won Northeast Conference Titles in 1995 and 1996 but lost the NCAA Play-In series to that season’s Ivy League Champion.

Rider last advanced to the College World Series in 1967, ultimately finishing fifth in the nation. Rider advanced to the NCAA East Regional Title Game in 1987, one of the final 16 surviving teams in the national tournament, before losing to Georgia in the final for the right to go to the CWS.

“This will be a great experience for our players,” Davis said. “We’ve played NCAA-caliber teams in the past, such as Gonzaga, Washington State and Coastal Carolina, where we walked onto the field and weren’t intimidated. Baseball is baseball.”

 

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