Rider starts MAAC tourney with win

POMONA, N.Y. » Joe Papeo pitched his best game of the season, Jake Barbieri hit a game-clinching tworun homer and the fifthseeded Rider baseball team overcame an umpiring error that denied it a run in the eighth inning to beat fourth-seeded Monmouth, 5-1, at the MAAC Tournament at Clover Stadium on Wednesday afternoon.

The left-hander Papeo came into the game with an ERA over seven, but tossed six scoreless innings, struck out nine, walked one and limited the Hawks to two hits.

Barbieri’s two-run blast in the ninth gave the defending champion Broncs (26-24) breathing room and Danny Kirwin worked a 1-2-3 ninth for to complete a nine-out save.

Rider returns on Thursday for an 11 a.m. game against top-seeded Marist.

Monmouth (24-26) had to return Wednesday night for an elimination game against Niagara.

The Broncs were robbed of what could have been a crucial run in the eighth when John Volpe hit a line drive that was judged to have been caught by left fielder Chris Andrews, but replays showed had actually cleared the wall and bounced off the railing behind the fence before Andrews grabbed it.

Barbieri rendered it a moot point when his ninth-inning shot landed in the seats beyond the left-field fence.

Monmouth got its lone run in the seventh on a solo homer by Joey Ventresca off Kirwin, but right fielder Brendan O’Donnell prevented any further damage when threw out a runner at the plate to end the inning.

Rider got all three of its runs off Hawks starter Rob Hensey in the fourth on a fielder’s choice, single and a balk.