Broncs not hanging heads after six losses

By Lindsay Scarola and Kadie DiGiuseppe

Rider softball had a busy week after facing Army on March 26 but losing the first game 6-3 and game two 5-3. 

On March 29 the Broncs went back to its in conference play against Quinnipiac University. Rider saw a familiar pattern in this series losing game one 4-1 and game two 6-4. 

The struggles continued as the Broncs game back to Rider to play Iona on April 1 and lost 10-1 in the first game then 5-4 in the second. 

Army marches to victory

In game one, Army took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first after a walk and an error gave them an advantage.

In the top of the third, freshman utility Keegan St. Cyr led off with a bunt single. Senior catcher Kristyn Gardner hit a home run to put Rider up 2-0.

The Black Knights tied it in the bottom of the inning. In the fifth, they added on two more runs on an RBI triple and RBI groundout. 

In an attempt to comeback, Gardner doubled and an error plated one run for Rider but the Broncs could not come back. 

In game two, the Black Knights got on the board first after a homerun. In the fourth, four runs were scored giving Army a 5-0 lead. 

In the top of the fifth, junior outfielder Fallyn Stoeckel doubled to get on base, freshman utility Shea Johnson followed with a single. 

For the second time that day, Gardner hit a bomb for a three-run homer, her second of the day. 

Rider was down 5-3, but the Broncs could not come back, they got swept by the Black Knights. 

Back to the conference

On March 29, the Broncs traveled up to Quinnipiac for some in-conference play. 

Graduate pitcher Anna-Marie Groskritz was on the mound in game one and she pitched a gem. 

Groskritz pitched six innings, giving up six hits and four runs [none of them earned] with five strikeouts. 

“I felt strong on the mound and confident in the team I have behind me … I thought we overall kept Quinnipiac off balance and ourselves in a good position,” Groskritz said.

The four unearned runs were a result of an error in the third inning that would have resulted in the third out. Instead, Quinnipiac went up 4-0. 

Sophomore infielder Kiersten Buchanan broke the Bobcats no-hitter in the seventh inning with a single before sophomore catcher Kendal Reda-Fehsal hit an RBI double. Rider could not come back and lost 4-1. 

In game two, Rider struck first with two unearned runs after Quinnipiac committed a few errors allowing Gardner to have an RBI double. 

The Bobcats got one back during the inning but the Broncs went up 3-1 in the second. 

A walk, an error and an RBI single tied the game 3-3 in the bottom of the third. 

 Another error committed by the Broncs led Quinnpiac to score again before a two-run single. 

Sophomore catcher Abby Cruz had a solo shot but it was not enough as the Broncs fell to the Bobcats. 

Despite the results, Head Coach Davon Ortega saw the positive, “We put good bat to the ball offensively and we had multiple people coming up clutch for us in both games.” 

Home losses

Back in Lawrenceville, the Broncs faced its third Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opponent, the Iona Gaels and were defeated in both its games. 

Starting off its first game, the Gaels struck in the first inning scoring two runs off a fielding error. 

Rider came up short in the first inning but Iona scored four more runs in the second inning off back-to-back doubles, putting the Broncs behind 6-0. 

Freshman shortstop Aspen Wheeler singled in the second to score senior third baseman Olivia Burroughs to give Rider it’s only run of the game. 

Iona started the third inning off with a homerun and finished the inning scoring another run after a fielding error by the Broncs. 

Both bats went quiet until the sixth inning Iona obtained its final two runs, bringing the score to 10-1 in favor of Iona in six innings. 

In Groskritz’s 11th outing of the season, she pitched five innings, allowed seven earned runs off 10 hits and struck out three. Stoeckel led the team with two hits. 

In the second game of the afternoon, Iona took a 4-0 lead by the end of the fourth, but it didn’t last long. 

Gardner’s two home runs and Burroughs two run home runs tied things up at four all in the sixth. 

The teams went to extra innings, where the Broncs met their sixth loss in a row after a double scored the winning Gael. 

Schmierer recorded four strikeouts in all ten innings, surpassing 150 career strikeouts. Buchanan and Stoeckel combinded for seven hits.  

Rider will hit the road against Canisius on April 5 and 6 then will travel to Mount St. Mary’s on April 8.