March 25, 2007 - LeMoyne 5 Rider 2 / Rider 7 LeMoyne 4
March 25, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Baseball
LeMoyne College 5, Rider University 2
Rider University 7, LeMoyne College 4
LAWRENCEVILLE— Rider starting catcher Sean Olson played in both games of the doubleheader and came up with the game-winning hit as the Broncs split a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader with LeMoyne Sunday. The strange part was that Olson played two different positions Sunday, and neither was behind the plate. “I prefer catching, but I’m just happy to play anywhere and contribute,” Olson said.
“We swung the bat a little better in the last game of the series,” said Rider head coach Barry Davis. Rider out-hit LeMoyne 12-11.
In the second game, sophomore Sean Olson (Vineland/St. Augustine Prep) played third base and hit a two-run double in the seventh inning to break a 4-4 tie in the 7-4 Rider victory. Runners were on first and second, but when Olson squared to bunt, the third baseman charged and freshman Nick Wojnowski (Baldwin, MD/Calvert Hall), the runner on second, stole third. “Once ‘Wojo’ stole third, I was just looking for a ball I could drive, and I got a fastball pretty much right down the middle. It felt good, real good.”
Olson had two hits in the second game. “That was a big hit and that’s what I recruited him to do,” Davis said, “drive the ball. He hit the ball hard a couple of times. Went over and played some third base for us.”
Olson played first base in the first game. “We’re a little short on infielders with our third baseman (senior Jeff Reynolds) being injured, so I guess Coach figured he’d give me a break after I took a foul ball off my hand yesterday,” Olson said. “My fingers were kind of swollen today.”
Rider (3-12, 1-2 MAAC) took a 3-2 lead in the third inning on an RBI single by junior Jon Leise (Woodbury/West Deptford), and took a 4-2 lead in the fourth inning on an RBI single by Wojnowski. Wojnowski had three hits and Leise had two hits in the doubleheader.
Freshman Ryan Miller (Montoursville, PA) pitched an inning and two-thirds of relief for the win, his first. “Miller threw fine,” Davis said.
Rider junior Will O’Connor (Cinnaminson) started and pitched six and two-thirds innings, allowing three earned runs and left the game with the score tied at 4-4. “That was a typical Will O’Connor game,” Davis said. “He kept them off balance, he kept the runs down, and he kept us in the game.”
Freshman Eric Woodrow (Hamilton, N.J./Hamilton West) caught both games and had three hits in the doubleheader. “Woodrow is doing a good job, and that allows us to move Olson around,” Davis said.
In the first game, Rider took a 2-0 lead in the first inning on an RBI single by Leise but managed just three more hits the rest of the game.
Sophomore Jamie Hayes (Sunrise, Fla./Piper) earned the save in the second game, his second, and had two hits in the doubleheader as the Bronc shortstop.
“We’re lucky to salvage a win over the preseason favorites when we make 13 errors,” Davis said. “LeMoyne is a good team, they’re going to be there at the end and they are going to sweep some teams this year, so I’m glad we did get the one win. Hopefully this will get us going a little bit. Last year they swept us so we improved by one game this year.”
“We made quite a few errors this weekend,” Olson said, “so it is a little disappointing coming away with just one win knowing we could have played better. But since they swept us last year, we’ll take this win and build on it.”
Rider hosts Rutgers Tuesday at 3pm. “We haven’t had a real mid-week game yet,” Davis said. “This will be fun.”
-RU-
