BOTETOURT, Va.?The Rider University softball team opened the 2008 season at the Hokies United Memorial Softball Tournament, hosted by Virginia Tech and came away with a split on day one of competition, defeating Robert Morris after falling to Villanova. “I was happy with the first day,” said head coach Tricia Carroll who is in her 14th season at Rider. “I thought the tone of the day was really positive. Getting at least a split after dropping the first game was important and the composure that we showed, with this being the first games of the season was just as important.”
In the second game for Rider (1-1), senior Pre-Season All-MAAC selection Tiffany Day-Neutill (Agoura Hills, Calif./Oaks Christian) hit her first home run of the season, breaking a 3-3 tie in the sixth inning. Day-Neutill also singled and scored twice.
“Tiffany did what we are going to need her to do,” Carroll said. “She stepped up and got a clutch hit.” For Day-Neutill, it was the 11th home run of her career.
Also for the Broncs, freshman Amanda Centeno (Ventura, Calif./Buena) had a two out, three-run double in the first inning in support of a complete game effort from junior Lauren Brunner (Chino, Calif./Chino). “Lauren pitched well and had some very nice defensive plays,” Carroll said. “She played well. She isn't going to over power hitters and get a lot of strikeouts so it is important that we have a solid defensive effort behind her and we did that today. Lauren loves to play and she's having fun.”
Centeno went two for two in the game with Brunner scattering seven hits, allowing only two earned runs and a walk while recording two strikeouts.
“The two out hit by Amanda was big,” said Carroll. “We didn't have a lot of two out hits last season and you need that type of momentum changing hit in order to be successful.”
“I thought [sophomore] Megan Kozlowski (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock-North) called a good game and I thought Lauren was very composed,” Carroll added. “For seeing live pitching the first time, I thought the whole team was very composed. We had decent at-bats.”
In the opener, Villanova (BIG EAST) shutout Rider on two hits. Brunner and senior Aimee Schiller (Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) each had singles, breaking up a no-hitter after four and one-third innings of the five inning game.
“We were ready to play and we competed,” Carroll said. “The Villanova game, it wasn't any big innings, they just started getting a couple of runs and got a couple more runs and it went from there.”
The tournament is the first annual Hokies United Memorial Softball Tournament, held to honor the memories of the students lost in the Virginia Tech shooting last spring.
“We didn't really talk about it as a team,” said Carroll. “For me personally, it is a shame that you have to even have memorial tournaments like this. We are honored to participate and it really puts things in perspective that this is just a game and reinforces the importance of going out and having fun and enjoying every minute of what you do. So in that respect, this was an important weekend to experience. We are just looking to go out and play and have fun.”
Rider takes on the host Hokies of Virginia Tech at 11:00am on Sunday with one final game against Rutgers, Troy, Saint Joseph's or Winthrop at 1:15pm.
