Rider baseball sweeps Quinnipiac for 3-0 MAAC start
HAMDEN, CONN. >> It had been a rough go for the Rider baseball team during non-league play, but the first MAAC series of the spring has brought about new life for the defending conference champion.
Kyle Neri homered and tripled, Luke Lesch extended his hitting streak to 13 games and the Broncs defeated Quinnipiac, 111, on Sunday afternoon to sweep a three-game series.
Brian Young, who won the second game of Friday’s doubleheader with an inning and a third of relief, was back on the mound to start on Sunday and looked more like the No. 1 pitcher Rider thought he would be.
The left-hander allowed one run on five hits, struck out seven and walked two. He showed major improvement from his first five appearances in which he hadn’t thrown more than three innings and had an ERA of 21.13.
Neri was one of four Broncs with at least two hits. The Bryant transfer homered in the second inning and then capped off a five-run fifth with an RBI triple. Neri’s solo shot was his third of the season and first since he went deep twice in the season opener at East Carolina.
Brian Skettini, Justin Costanzo and Matt Leahy (3-for-4) also had multiple hits.
Lesch’s two-run double in the fifth also increased his on-base streak to 19 games.
Rider (5-14, 3-0) won consecutive game for the first time all season after it swept Friday’s twinbill from the Bobcats (5-15, 0-3) and then completed the sweep on Sunday.
CORNELL 15, PRINCETON 2 PRINCETON >>
Matt Barnhorst and Jakobi Davis both homered for the Big Red (311, 1-2), starter Caden Shapiro didn’t get out of the first inning as Cornell jumped on the Tigers (6-12, 2-1) for seven runs in the first inning and avoided a sweep in the first Ivy League series of the season. Kyle Vinci hit a two-run homer in the sixth to account for Princeton’s runs.
UCONN 5, RUTGERS 1 PISCATAWAY >>
Jackson Natili homered in the eighth inning, but that was all the offense the Scarlet Knights (17-7) mustered as they couldn’t complete the sweep of the Huskies (9-13). Bryan Padilla homered as part of a three-run eighth for UConn against the Rutgers bullpen.
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Hannah Leubecker scored six goals, the second-ranked Terrapins (9-1, 2-0) jumped out to a big lead and handed the Scarlet Knights (5-5, 0-3) their fourth straight loss. Cassidy Spilis had five of Rutgers’ eight goals.
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Savanna Messner scored the winning run on a wild pitch and the Lions (6-14, 2-1) walked off the Tigers (10-9, 1-2) to take the rubber game of the first Ivy League series of the season. Cami Neal tied the score at 3-all with an RBI single in the seventh. Sonia Zhang led off the game with a home run as Princeton jumped out to a 3-0 lead before Columbia rallied to win.
RUTGERS 8, OHIO STATE 6 PISCATAWAY >>
Morgan Smith and Katie Wingert both homered, the Scarlet Knights (20-12, 2-1) scored six times in the third inning and took two of three from the Buckeyes (16-10, 1-2) to begin Big Ten play.