Shake-up jump-starts Rider offense against Fairfield

Rider baseball

By: Jim Green
   Mike Poalise might not consider himself a run producer, but he sure does a good impression of one.
   The Rider University baseball team’s junior center fielder had been leading off most of the season before a recent slump by the Broncs led coach Barry Davis to shake up his lineup. As part of that shake-up, Poalise moved to fifth, while junior shortstop Bryan Wagner switched from the ninth spot to leadoff. The result has been a two-game winning streak and an offensive outburst by the Broncs.
   On Monday afternoon, the Broncs completed a rain-delayed three game set with Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference rival Fairfield, cruising 17-6 at newly christened Sonny Pittaro Field. Poalise was 2-for-4 with a double, four RBIs and three runs scored, and Wagner was 3-for-5 with an RBI and two runs scored, helping the Broncs take 2-of-3 in the series to remain in the hunt for the MAAC playoffs. Rider (12-25 overall, 8-10 in the MAAC) is three games behind Niagara (10-6 in the MAAC) for the fourth and final playoff spot with nine conference games left.
   "We’re still hanging on in the conference," Poalise said. "It’s not over yet. We have to go out and keep winning."
   The Broncs’ chances of winning seem to have improved since Davis shook up the lineup that had remained fairly similar most of the season. Wagner is 6-for-14 from the leadoff spot, upping his average to .291, while Poalise is 4-for-7 with six RBIs in two games batting fifth.
   "It’s different, but it’s working right now," Poalise said. "I’m getting up there with runners on, and I’m getting pitches to hit. We needed a switch. You go through stages where you’re not hitting the ball. We needed a little switch-up."
   The Broncs’ new-look lineup pounded out 19 hits Monday, battering five Fairfield pitchers and bailing out Rider starter Derek Caldwell, who got the win despite surrendering five runs on 11 hits in five innings.
   "I’d like to be up 13-3 every inning, but we didn’t play anywhere near as well as we should have," Davis said. "If they (the Fairfield Stags) do any kind of clutch hitting, we would have needed to score 22, 23 runs. It’s just one of those days. Overall, you have to be happy we won."
   The series originally was scheduled to be completed Sunday, but rain on Saturday forced the opening doubleheader — which included the dedication of the field to legendary former Rider coach Pittaro — pushed back a day. Rider dropped the first game 7-6 before notching a 7-0 win in the nightcap behind a complete-game shutout by senior righty Joe Moronese, who has given up one run on eight hits in 13 innings since returning from a sore throwing arm. The two teams came back Monday afternoon to finish the series with a single game amidst light rain and chilly conditions.
   Fairfield jumped on top with a run in the first on a bases-loaded walk, but it didn’t take long for the Broncs to answer loudly. Following a single by junior third baseman Tom Letizia and two walks, junior designated hitter Jordan McCreedy crushed a bases-clearing double off the right field wall, narrowly missing a grand slam.
   "That was the hit that started it," Davis said. "We didn’t look back from there."
   In the second inning, the Broncs exploded for six runs, knocking out Fairfield pitcher Steven Tyburski. In the inning, Letizia and sophomore catcher Scott Knazek had RBI singles, and Poalise brought two runs home with a double smacked down the left-field line.
   "I thought we were capable of putting some hits together," Davis said. "We were able to get to him (Tyburski). When someone’s struggling, they tend to continue to struggle."
   The next inning, the Broncs piled on with seven more runs, upping their lead to 17-3. McCreedy cracked another RBI double, this time off the left-field wall, and Poalise ripped a two-run single.
   "Coach wanted me to go up there with the same mentality," Poalise said. "I’m not trying to jack the ball out. That’s not my game."
   McCreedy finished with three hits and four RBIs, Letizia had two hits and three runs scored, and Knazek was 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Sophomore right-hander Justin Roszkowski relieved Caldwell and pitched four innings, allowing just one run and earning his second save of the year.
   "I thought he (Roszkowski) did well," Davis said. "He made a couple of pitches that could have been longball types. He settled down. He did a good job. He stabilized it a little bit."
   The Broncs will look to keep their good feeling going this weekend, when they host a three-game series with MAAC rival LeMoyne, which is 12-4 in the league.
   "We kept ourselves in the race," Davis said. "We have no room for error, though."