Siena Baseball dropped a 4–3 decision to Rider on a walk-off bunt in the bottom of the ninth Friday afternoon at Sonny Pittaro Field in Lawrenceville, NJ.
Rider secured the series-opening win when Andrew Paskell laid down a bunt single that scored Will Gallagher from third. Gallagher opened the inning with a walk and advanced to third on a wild pitch before crossing with the winning run.
Siena struck first in the third inning.
Scott Lynch lined a two-run single to left field to score
Aidan Paradine and
Jake Sparks, giving the Saints a 2–0 lead.
The Broncs answered in the sixth, tying the game on a pair of sacrifice flies. Siena moved back in front in the eighth when
Gavin Thorburn — who led off the inning with a single — came around to score on a fielder's choice by
Noah Brooks to make it 3–2. Rider evened the score in the bottom half before delivering the walk-off in the ninth.
The Saints finished with nine hits, led by Lynch's three-hit, two-RBI performance. Sparks reached base three times with a hit and two walks.
On the mound,
Tyler Sausville allowed two earned runs over six innings while striking out four.
Matt Murtagh tossed two innings in relief and was charged with the loss.
Siena will return to action Saturday for game two of the series at Rider, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m. ET.
