May 6, 2007 - Iona 8 Rider 6 (10 innings)
May 6, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Baseball
Iona College 8, Rider University 6 (10 innings)
LAWRENCEVILLE—The Broncs lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game to Iona Sunday, losing the series two games to one. “There is something wrong,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “We should play better, in all phases of the game. We came up small today.”
The Gaels (15-28, 7-13 MAAC) scored two runs in the top of the tenth inning on two hits, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly. “Give Iona credit,” Davis said. “They’ve had a tough year but they hung in there and took two out of three from a team that is in the running for a playoff spot.”
Iona took a 6-4 lead in the top of the ninth inning with two runs, both with two outs, but Rider (16-24, 9-11 MAAC) came back to score two in the bottom of the ninth to send the game into extra innings.
In the Rider ninth, sophomore Mo Williams (Tinton Falls/Monmouth Regional) singled, sophomore Adam Tussey (Brooklawn/Gloucester) walked and sophomore Sean Olson (Vineland/St. Augustine Prep) hit an infield single that was booted, allowing one run to score. Freshman Garrett Rugg (Langhorne, PA/Neshaminy) then hit a ground ball that scored Tussey with the tying run. “We got a break with them throwing the ball around a little bit,” Davis said.
Olson had three hits, including a double, and Williams added two hits for the Broncs.
Freshman Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, MD/Calvert Hall) hit his first collegiate home run, a two-run blast that tied the score at 2-2 in the fifth inning. “Wojo had a big hit, got us back into the game,” Davis said.
Freshman Eric Woodrow (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) and red-shirt freshman Matt McCollum (Tabernacle/Shawnee) also contributed two hits each for Rider.
Rider never led but tied the score three different times.
Rider hosts St. Joseph’s Tuesday and Temple Wednesday in a pair of non-conference games, before traveling to Niagara next weekend for a three-game MAAC series, beginning with a 4pm doubleheader Saturday. “That’s another big series for us,” Davis said. “That’s why you have to enjoy the wins, because losses like this are tough.”
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