LAWRENCEVILLE, N.J.— The LIU Brooklyn baseball team fell to Rider, 6-5 at Sonny Pittaro Field on Tuesday afternoon. The Blackbirds rallied to take the lead in the fifth inning but the Broncs picked up two runs late to take the non conference matchup.

LIU recorded eight hits on the day including three doubles and a home run. Senior Gregory Vaughn picked up his second straight multi-hit game for the Blackbirds. Senior Alex Briggs recorded two hits including a solo home run to go along with two runs batted in.
 
The Broncs got off to a strong start with a pair of RBI doubles in the first and second inning to take the early 2-0 favor.
 
LIU's offense got going in the top half of the third as senior Joe Mercadante picked up the one-out double to start.  He would come around to score two batters later  Vaughn Jr. picked up the double down the left field line to bring the score to 2-1.

Rider's extra-base hits continued in the bottom half of the third as another pair of RBI doubles in the inning gave them a 4-1 advantage.
 
LIU responded in the top of the fourth working the bases loaded with just one out. Senior Luiny Monegro plated a pair of runs on a single into center field to cut the deficit to one. The Broncs picked up the second out in the next at bat but LIU got a big RBI double from senior Andrew Smith to knot  the game up at 4-4.
 
The Blackbirds picked up their third home run of the week as Briggs went yard with one out in the top of the fifth inning to give team the 5-4 lead.

The game remained quiet for the next few innings before the Broncs tied the game up in the seventh. Rider used a two-out double before advancing that ultimately scored after a balk and wild pitch from freshman Alec Huertas to bring the score to 5-5.

Rider worked a runner in scoring position with two outs in the bottom half of the eighth inning against freshman Nick Torres. LIU made a pitching change to senior Mike Kreiger and in the next at bat, the Broncs recorded a RBI single to right field to take the lead.

LIU put the tying run on second base in the ninth as Vaughn recorded a two out single and stole second base but the Broncs closed out the game with a strikeout to take the contest.

Junior Patrick Clyne picked up the start for LIU, going three innings and allowing three earned runs while striking out three. Huertas pitched a game-high four frames, surrendering one earned run on three hits with three strikeouts. Torres suffered the decision for LIU pitching two-thirds of the eighth inning.

The Blackbirds were outhit on the day, 12-8 by the Broncs. Of the 20 hits in the contest, 10 of them were doubles.

UP NEXT
 
The Blackbirds head down to Villanova for a three-game weekend at the Ballpark at Plymouth. Friday's series opener is set for 3:00 p.m.