Broncs start season winning one of five in North Carolina

By Lindsay Scarola  

Rider softball began their season at the University of North Carolina Wilmington Tournament on Feb. 21 for its first tournament, starting with a record of 1-4. 

The Broncs won their first game on Feb. 21 against University of Massachusetts 7-0, following that game they lost to DePaul University 6-1. The next day were rematches against the Blue Demons, losing 8-0 in five, and against the UMass Minutemen losing 2-0. 

Rider went against UNC Wilmington on Feb. 23 falling short 5-0. 

Junior outfielder Maddie Luedtke commented on the momentum shift between the first game and the rest of them. 

“That first game we were so excited to just go out there and play. After the first game we started to get a little in our heads and overthink every at bat and play,” said Luedtke. 

Friday Split 

In the first game of the day, Rider went up against UMass. After a scoreless first inning, the Broncs brought in four runs in the bottom of the second. Sophomore catcher Abby Cruz, sophomore outfielder Shelby Dyer and junior pitcher/outfielder Fallyn Stoeckel all hit for three-straight RBIs.  

In the fifth, Luedtke had a leadoff double and scored on senior third/first baseman Olivia Burroughs’ single. Cruz hit a two-out RBI single to make it 7-0. Graduate pitcher Anna-Marie Groskritz held down the fort for the Broncs, striking out 10 Minutemen batters and shutting them out in seven innings. 

UMass could not score against Rider losing 7-0. 

Shortly after this win, it was time for the Broncs’ second game against DePaul. 

In the top of the first, Luedtke hit a double to left field which brought in sophomore catcher Kendall Reda-Fehsal for one. In the bottom of the first, senior second baseman Baylee Cosgrove had a double and three RBIs for DePaul. 

In the fourth and sixth innings, the Blue Demons added three more runs to gain a 6-1 lead. The Broncs went down one, two, three in the top of the seventh, losing this battle. 

Saturday Rematches 

With an early morning start, Rider was looking to bounce back against DePaul after Friday’s matchup. 

Freshman pitcher Gabi Rodriguez started this game and had a rough start. With two outs in the top of the first, she hit two batters, gave up four hits and five RBIs, DePaul had an early jump. 

The Blue Demons’s lead expanded to eight while the Broncs remained scoreless. Rider was held to only two hits, it could not get a rally going. Unable to comeback, the Broncs were shutout. 

Onto the second game of the doubleheader, it was time to verse UMass. 

The bats did not get going until the bottom of the second. Sophomore outfielder Riley Kairer hit a triple and then scored on a wild pitch for the Minutemen, that was it for the inning. 

The luck continued in the bottom of the third, freshman utility Sophia Thormeyer hit a double that advanced junior infielder Riain Keefe to third. 

UMass was up by two but there was still plenty of game left to be played for Rider. 

Although their defense was flawless, the Broncs bats were quiet. They were making good contact off of the bat, but luck was not on their side. The ball would find a Minutemen player on the field. 

Sunday Shutout

Groskritz started for Rider and limited UNC Wilmington to one earned run but still lost to the Seahawks 5-0. 

UNC Wilmington got on board in the bottom of the second. The bases were loaded on a hit-by-pitch, an infield single and a walk before an error plus a two-run single gave the Seahawks a 4-0 advantage. 

The Broncs woke up offensively and started threatening UNCW’s defense. Cruz hit a leadoff single before freshman outfielder Cami Johnson came in as a pinch runner. She advanced to second after a sacrifice bunt and stole third, all with one out. 

Rider did not score. UNCW added a fifth run in the fourth inning. A hit-by-pitch, infield single and consecutive groundouts helped to get the run. 

In the top of the sixth, Cruz was hit by a pitch and Burroughs followed with a single. A wild pitch put runners in scoring position but the inningended on a groundout. 

Defensively Rider had two errors contributing to the four unearned runs for UNCW. The Broncs were shut down in the top of the seventh securing a Seahawks victory. 

Head coach Davon Ortega expressed her thoughts on where to go from here. 

“From here, we improve by working on all the small details that cost us games.We will focus on how to make better adjustments when we’re facing different types of pitchers and we will need to focus on cleaning up the defensive errors,” said Ortega. 

Rider will travel to Kennesaw, Georgia for another tournament starting on Feb. 28 at 4 p.m. until its last game on March 2 at 5 p.m. against St. John’s University, Kennesaw State University and St. Louis University.