LAWRENCE TOWNSHIP, N.J. (Interstat) — Anthony Paskell’s walk-off bunt single in the bottom of the ninth inning lifted Rider to a 4-3 victory over Siena in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference baseball opener Friday at Sonny Pittaro Field.

The game, which began in the afternoon and concluded in the evening, saw the Broncs rally from a three-run deficit to win their second straight and improve to 6-5 overall. Siena fell to 6-9.

The most important part of the game was Rider’s late-inning comeback, which negated a dominant starting pitching performance by Siena’s Tyler Sausville and capitalized on a crucial Siena error.

Siena built its lead in the third inning. After loading the bases with two walks and a hit batter, Scott Lynch delivered a two-run single to left field off Rider starter PJ Craig, scoring Vincent Paradine and Donovan Sparks. That gave the Saints a 3-0 advantage.

That was all Siena would manage against Craig and reliever Christian Aiello. Craig, the top star for Rider, allowed two earned runs on seven hits over 6 2/3 innings, striking out six. Aiello earned the win with 2 1/3 innings of relief, surrendering one run on two hits while fanning three.

Sausville was brilliant for Siena, carrying a no-hitter through five innings. He finally allowed his first hit, a single to Matt Leahy, to lead off the fifth but maintained the shutout. Rider broke through against him in the sixth. Anthony Paskell, Chris Magoulic and Nick Shuhet hit consecutive singles to load the bases with no outs. Eliot Medlock then hit a sacrifice fly to center, scoring Paskell. After a flyout, Leahy added another sacrifice fly to plate Magoulic, cutting the deficit to 3-2 and ending Sausville’s day. He finished with two earned runs allowed on three hits over six innings, walking two and striking out four.

Siena added an insurance run in the eighth on a fielder’s choice by Randall Brooks, but Rider answered immediately in the bottom half against reliever Matt Murtagh. Shuhet led off with a solo home run to left field, tying the game at 3-3.

In the ninth, Rider’s Will Gallagher drew a leadoff walk from Murtagh. After a sacrifice bunt moved him to second, Gallagher advanced to third on a wild pitch by new pitcher Gio Conte. Following a strikeout, Paskell laid down a bunt on the first pitch he saw from Conte. The ball was fielded cleanly, but Paskell beat the throw to first, allowing Gallagher to score the winning run.

Lynch led Siena’s nine-hit attack, going 3 for 4 with two RBIs. Rider managed seven hits, with Paskell going 2 for 4 with an RBI and a run scored, and Shuhet finishing 2 for 3 with the game-tying homer.

The victory defied the pregame projection from Interstat’s game simulator, which had forecast a 7-5 Siena win, though its ELO system gave Rider a 77.3% probability to win.

The teams continue their three-game MAAC series Saturday afternoon.