PHILADELPHIA – For the third time in five seasons, the Saint Joseph's baseball team will bring the Liberty Bell Classic championship trophy back to Hawk Hill after SJU topped Rider, 5-3, at Citizens Bank Park on Wednesday night.
The matchup between the previous two champions had some extra meaning for Saint Joseph's senior Joey Gorman, who took the hill for his first collegiate pitching appearance. The Philadelphia native battled his way back to the mound after a series of brain and shoulder surgeries over the course of the past four years to make his first career start, and added a hit and a run batted in at the plate as well.
The evening didn't start as planned, however, as Rider (13-25) took an early lead in the top of the first on a two-run home run by Lee Lipinski.
Saint Joseph's (21-15) equalized in the bottom of the second. After a one-out walk to Charlie Coghlin and a single by Matt Maul, Cal Jadacki's single to center brought Coghlin home with SJU's first run of the night. Maul was tagged out in a rundown on the play, which allowed Jadacki to get to second; this proved critical as Taylor Boyd followed with a single of his own to score Jadacki and tie the game.
The Hawks went ahead with a pair of runs on four consecutive singles in the third. With one out, Marc Giacalone and Deon Stafford, Jr., singled to bring up John Brue, who gave the Hawks the lead with a base hit to right. Gorman followed with a single to center to plate Stafford and double the lead.
The Broncs got one back in the fourth as Mike Volaski singled and scored on a double to left by Riley Mihalik.
Rider threatened in the sixth and seventh, putting two aboard in each frame, but Jack Stover retired Christian Estevez on a groundout to end the sixth before Justin Aungst struck Lipinski out looking to end the seventh.
Stafford scored an insurance run in the seventh, reaching on a two-out error and coming in on a single by Brian Lau.
Ryan Kelly came on and tossed a perfect ninth, fanning two for his sixth save of the season. He preserved the win for Pat Vanderslice, who improved to 5-2 after throwing a shutout inning of relief and picking up three strikeouts. C.J. Hirschy, making his second consecutive championship game start for Rider, took the loss, allowing four runs on eight hits in four and a third innings to fall to 0-9.
Saint Joseph's now turns its attention back to Atlantic 10 play, as Rhode Island visits Smithson Field for the first of a three-game series on Friday. First pitch in the opener is set for 3:00 p.m.; a video stream of the game will be available free of charge on the Atlantic 10 Network.
