College Baseball
Rider University 4, St. Joseph's University 3

LAWRENCEVILLE—The Broncs completed the home portion of their schedule Tuesday with a come-from-behind win over Saint Joseph’s. “I don’t know if we deserved to win this one,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. “It sure was an ugly win.”

Junior Scott Knazek (Browns Mills/Pemberton) drew a bases loaded walk with one out in the bottom of the ninth inning to tie the score at 3-3, and broke up a double-play with a hard slide at second base on a ground ball by freshman Jamie Hayes (Sunrise, FL/Piper) to allow the winning run to score.

The winning run was scored by senior Tom Letizia (Fair Lawn), who reached base on a single, his fourth of the game.

Freshman catcher Sean Olson (Vineland/St. Augustine Prep) had two doubles and threw out four base runners attempting to steal. Olson’s RBI double in the second inning gave Rider a 1-0 lead. “Sean threw the ball consistently well all day,” said Davis.  “He hasn’t caught a lot this year with Knazek back there, but he has made the most of his playing time. He showed he can play and he sure hits a lot of doubles.”

Olson now has 11 doubles, second on the team, in just 92 at bats, 10th most on the team.

Hayes and senior Gene Crimoli (Shrewsbury/Christian Brothers Academy) each had two of Rider’s 12 hits.

Freshman Dan Sasso (Bordentown) pitched five innings, striking out three, and left the game with a 2-1 lead.  Freshman Mike Petrowski (Hamilton Square/Steinert) faced two batters in the top of the ninth inning and recorded the final two outs for his third victory.

Rider (23-25) travels to Canisius for a three-game MAAC series this weekend. Rider concludes the regular season with a three-game series at LeMoyne May 18-19. “We’re looking to go to Canisius and win the series,” said Davis. “That’s our goal every weekend, and we’ve been able to do it most times.”

-RU-