PHILADELPHIA – The Saint Joseph's baseball team will play for its third Liberty Bell Classic championship in five seasons on Wednesday night when the Hawks head to Citizens Bank Park to meet Rider. First pitch is set for 7:30 p.m. at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies.
Tickets will be available at the Citizens Bank Park west ticket windows for $5. Free parking will be available as well, in Phillies Lot S, across Pattison Avenue from Xfinity Live.
The matchup pits the previous two Liberty Bell Classic champions, as the Hawks took the 2014 title with a 10-3 win over La Salle, while Rider lifted the trophy last season, topping Villanova, 6-2, in the Broncs' return to the tournament after a nearly two-decade absence.
HOW THEY GOT HERE: Saint Joseph's (20-15) won at Lafayette, 9-4, on March 29 before dominating Villanova, 8-0, at Smithson Field on April 6. In the semifinal win, Pat Vanderslice tossed seven innings of one-hit ball, and the Hawk offense hung a five-spot on the board in the bottom of the first to cruise to victory.
Rider (13-24) reached the final after topping La Salle, 5-2, in the quarterfinals and outlasting Lehigh, 10-9, in in 10 innings in the semis. Lehigh had taken a 9-8 lead in the top of the 10th, but after a fielding error allowed James Locklear to score the tying run, Jake Bender capped off a five-hit day with a two-out single that brought home the winning run and sent the Broncs back to the title game.
WHO TO WATCH: Sophomore standout Deon Stafford, Jr., remains the driving force behind the Hawk offense. He leads the team and the Atlantic 10 in home runs (13), slugging percentage (.735), and on-base percentage (.476), and his team-best .382 batting average places him second in the league among all qualified hitters by a single point. He also leads the team in hits (52), runs scored (35), and runs batted in (31).
With two more longballs this weekend, Stafford tied the Saint Joseph's single-season home run record set a year ago by John Brue. Prior to Brue's 13 home runs in 2015, the record of 12 – set by John DelMonte – had stood since 1978.
Brue has his sights set on another long-held record, as his 24 career home runs rank him second in program history, one behind Jason Hamilton, who set the record in 1993. Brue has nine home runs on the season, tied for third in the conference, and ranks second on the squad with 30 RBI.
Brian Lau leads the Hawks in doubles; his 14 two-baggers put him into a tie for second in the league in that category as well. Marc Giacalone is SJU's leader in walks, with his 26 free passes ranking second in the A-10, and his six stolen bases tie him with Peter Sitaras for the team lead.
On the mound, Tim Brennan and Lucas Rollins have given the Hawks a formidable young one-two punch in the rotation. Brennan ranks fifth in the conference with a 2.38 earned run average, while Rollins is fifth in the league in strikeouts (54). His 9-to-1 strikeout-to-walk ratio is far and away the top mark in the A-10 and is among the best in all of Division I.
In the bullpen, Ryan Kelly has worked his way into the closer's role, notching five saves in 17 appearances (both team highs) to go with a 2.50 ERA. Justin Aungst has been solid in his sophomore season, notching a 1.80 ERA, a 2-0 record, and a save in 20 innings across 12 appearances.
Tyler Kaiser leads the Rider regulars with a .285 average and 14 doubles on the season. His three home runs tie him with Lee Lipinski for the team lead, and his 39 hits are tied for the top spot with Bender. Bender has scored a team-leading 25 runs on the season, while Lipinski's 20 RBI pace the Broncs. Bender and Locklear have both stolen 10 bases on the season as well.
Four Broncs have thrown at least 40 innings on the mound, led by Nick Margevicius with his 3.20 ERA and 52 strikeouts. Vincenzo Aiello has thrown four complete games in his nine starts this season as well.
Paul Sparano leads the Broncs in appearances, having thrown in 17 games out of the bullpen and notching a team-leading three saves.
LOOKING AHEAD: After Wednesday's championship tilt, the Hawks welcome one of their five cohabitants at the top of the Atlantic 10 standings, the Rhode Island Rams, for a three-game series at Smithson Field that kicks off on Friday. Rider, meanwhile, hosts Siena in a three-game MAAC series beginning on Saturday.
