MERION STATION, Pa. – It was déjà vu all over again for the Saint Joseph's baseball team as the Hawks recorded a come-from-behind 11-10 win over Rider on Wednesday at Smithson Field, two weeks after posting a win over the same team by the same score.
 
This one, however, had higher stakes, as with the win, the Hawks punched their ticket to the Liberty Bell Classic championship game at Citizens Bank Park on April 21.
 
HOW IT HAPPENED
• Joey Gale put the Hawks in front right away in the bottom of the first inning with a leadoff home run.  Unfortunately for the Crimson and Gray, the visitors answered with a four-run second to take a 4-1 lead.
 
• Rider (17-10) would extend the lead to 5-1 in the third, but the Hawks closed the gap through Blake Primrose, who lofted a three-run home run to left field to make it a 5-4 game.
 
• The Broncs scored three in the fourth to restore the four-run lead, but Saint Joseph's (20-11) answered once again.  Ben Peterson drew a leadoff walk and matriculated his way around the bases before scoring on a single by Carson Applegate, who later go on to score on a groundout by Alex Kelsey to cut the deficit to 8-6.
 
• A run in the top of the fifth extended the Rider lead to 9-6, but SJU would get within one in the sixth.  Applegate singled and Gale walked before both moved up 90 feet on a wild pitch.  Two batters later, Primrose walked to load the bases for Richard Beggy, who ripped a single through the left side to plate Applegate and Gale and make it a 9-8 game.
 
• Peterson then tied things up in the bottom of the seventh with a solo home run.
 
• Gale led off the home half of the eighth with a walk and stole second before Primrose was intentionally walked two batters later.  A wild pitched moved the runners up to second and third for Beggy, who worked a walk to load the bases for Joey Pagano.  Pagano took the first pitch and dropped it into left field to score Gale and give the Hawks a 10-9 lead.  Tim Dickinson then followed with a sacrifice fly to add an insurance run.
 
• That extra run would prove important as three walks and two strikeouts loaded the bases in the top of the ninth for the Broncs before a hit batter forced in a run.  Andrew Gaines then induced a ground ball to Beggy, who stepped on the bag at third to punch the Hawks' ticket to the  championship game.
 
BEHIND THE BOX SCORE
• Gaines recorded his sixth save of the season to preserve the win for Matt Spiecher, who tossed a perfect eighth inning; Speicher was the only pitcher for either team to recorded a scoreless outing as he improved to 5-0.  Jake Dorety took the loss to fall to 0-1.
 
• Gale, Peterson, and Applegate had multi-hit games for Saint Joseph's, with Gale also walking three times to reach base safely in all five of his plate appearances.  He added four runs scored in the game as well.
 
• Primrose, who homered for the fourth consecutive game, added three runs batted in and reached base four times himself.
 
• The win gives the Hawks their first trip to the Liberty Bell Classic championship game in a decade; Saint Joseph's last played at the home of the Philadelphia Phillies in 2016, when the Hawks won their third title in five years (2012, 2014, 2016) with a 5-3 win over Rider on April 27.
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks head to Dayton for a three-game Atlantic 10 series that opens up on Friday.