April 17, 2006
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Baseball
Iona College 3, Rider University 2

NEW ROCHELLLE, NY—The Broncs out-hit Iona but lost a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference game Monday. Rider won the series two games to one. "We just didn’t have enough today," said Rider head coach Barry Davis. "We didn’t make enough breaks for ourselves."

Rider (13-21, 8-4 MAAC) cut the lead to 2-1 in the seventh inning on an RBI single by sophomore Jeff Reynolds (Denville/Parsippany Hills), who had two of Rider’s nine hits. Reynolds also hit an RBI single in the top of the ninth inning for the final score. "Reynolds had a big hit in the ninth inning," Davis said. "He had a nice game."

Iona (5-26, 3-9 MAAC) scored two runs in the sixth inning on three hits. "They scored the two runs with two outs on a fly ball that we lost in the sun," Davis said. Iona took a 3-1 lead in the eighth inning on an unearned run. "Any mistake is magnified in a close conference game," Davis said.

Junior Justin Roszkowski (Clark/Arthur Johnson) pitched six innings for Rider, allowing six hits and struck out two without allowing a walk. "Justin threw well, we just didn’t score behind him," Davis said.

Freshman Jamie Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) also had two hits for Rider, while freshman Sean Olson (Vineland, N.J./St. Augustine Prep) doubled. "the young guys swung the bats pretty good," Davis said.

Sophomore Jon Leise (Woodbury, N.J./West Deptford) singled and walked and scored both of Rider’s runs.

Seniors Bryan Wagner (Flemington/North Hunterdon) and Mike Poalise (Hammonton), and freshman Adam Tussey (Brooklawn, N.J./Gloucester) also singled for Rider.

"We had two guys thrown out at the plate, including one in the ninth inning," said Davis. "We hit some balls hard that didn’t fall, and their lefty threw well." Matt Costello (2-6) pitched seven innings and struck out seven for the win.

"We’re 8-4 in the league, which puts us close to where we want to be," said Davis. "The next few weekends will make or break us." Rider hosts Niagara April 22-23 and Saint Peter’s April 29-30.

Rider plays at Penn Tuesday.

-RU-