College Softball
Rider University 5, Siena College 4
Rider University 6, Siena College 2
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Doubleheader
LAWRENCEVILLE?It is inevitable that it rains when company is coming and you have outdoor activities planned. For the Rider University softball team celebrating a 30 year anniversary with about 100 alumni, Rider President Dr. Mordechai Rozanski and Director of Athletics Don Harnum on hand, it actually did rain, everywhere but at Rider and the newly renovated Herb and Joan Young softball complex that was officially dedicated on Saturday.
The softball gods smiled down at Herb and Joan's generosity and when Siena and Rider took the field, the Broncs came away with a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader sweep of the Saints from Siena College. “It was very important to begin conference play by winning at home,” said head coach Tricia Carroll. “In the MAAC, you really need to win all of the home games and at least split on the road. If you do that, you should be in good shape in the standings. The two wins made a great day even more special.”
In the opener with the score tied at four in the seventh, sophomore Derrin Minunni (Cohoes, N.Y./Shaker) hit a out-out RBI single to right field, her second hit of the game, scoring senior Tiffany Day-Neutill (Agoura Hills, Calif./Oaks Christian) giving the Broncs a 5-4 win.
“We came out with a lot of energy,” said Minunni. “We just really hit the ball and pulled through. My hit was a 2-0 count and I knew the pitcher didn't want to walk me so I was looking for a pitch around the plate and I zoned in my strike zone and went and got it. It felt good. I knew the team needed the win and it felt good to come through.”
Day-Neutill walked and advanced to second base on a walk by freshman Brittany Eckett (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) to setup the winning play.
“A win in our last at-bat was big for us,” said Carroll. “We've been right there in a lot of our games and haven't been able to get that one hit or that one play and today, we put all of that together. It took the whole game to come through and put ourselves in position for a game-winning hit.”
Trailing 1-0, Rider (9-17, 2-0 MAAC) took the lead in the second inning on a two-run double by senior Mandi Sekly (Canyon Country, Calif./Canyon).
Siena (7-23, 0-6 MAAC) led 4-2 when Rider tied the game in the fifth inning on back to back RBI doubles from Eckett and Minunni.
Junior Lauren Brunner (Chino, Calif./Chino) picked up the win with a complete game effort, recording a career-high seven strikeouts. “All of my pitches were working today,” said Brunner. “My curve was working well and it kept them [Siena] off balance. I was able to work inside.”
In the nightcap, Minunni, Eckett and junior Katy Mills (Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier) each had two hits with Minunni and sophomore Candice Harris (Las Vegas, Nev./Coronado) each adding a double as the Broncs won 6-2.
Rider trailed 1-0 in the fourth when Mills hit an RBI single and Harris followed with a two-run double. “We hit the ball well today,” said Mills. “We've been hitting the ball better over the past several games but we were hitting it right at our opponents and today, the hits were dropping for us. One person gets a big hit and you say ?I want to do that too' and it goes from there. The hitting was contagious.”
The Broncs added three more runs in the fifth with Day-Neutill hitting her third home run of the season and senior Aimee Schiller (Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) adding an RBI double. Day-Neutill scored three times in the doubleheader.
Senior Jessica Holland (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) threw a complete game four hitter with no walks and two strikeouts for her third win of the season.
“I had my rise ball going,” said Holland. “The defense did a nice job today.”
“Both pitchers did really well,” Mills added. “The kept the balls down and did their job giving us the opportunity to play solid defense.”
This marks the first time in four years that Rider has started undefeated in conference play. Rider started 3-0 in 2004, sweeping Saint Peter's and defeating Manhattan.
“The pitchers really kept Siena guessing today,” said pitching coach Heather Beintema. “We know that Jess and Lauren are going to get the job done by having our opponents put the ball in play. We aren't necessarily going to get a lot of strikeouts so our defense has to do the work and for the most part, we did that today. Sophomore Megan Kozlowski (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock-North) called a nice game today.”
“Both pitchers have been pitching well and Megan has done a nice job managing the game,” said Carroll. “The pitchers came up big and if we put some runs on the board and play some defense, we'll be right there. One of the things that will get overlooked is that we didn't strike out once today and we've really been working on getting decent at-bats. We put the ball in play and made Siena make plays.”
“Starting with a MAAC win was important,” Brunner added. “It shows that we can get the job done.”
The Broncs now lead the all-time series against Siena 14-8.
The first place Broncs host Saint Peter's in a MAAC doubleheader Sunday at 1:00pm. “We want to win and keep it going,” said Mills.
“We have two more conference games at home on Sunday and we need to win those,” said Carroll. “We need to believe we can play and we are a dangerous team when we believe that.”
In between games, Rider honored its first softball team from 1978 as part of the 30 year anniversary of Rider softball and also honored Herb and Joan Young for their financial contributions that enabled the renovation of the softball complex.
“It was a big day,” said Carroll. “I thought the players played big today. Having everyone come back was awesome. We got the games in, despite the weather around us. Herb and Joan Young have been such good friends to Rider University and Rider softball and I think we did a good job honoring what they have done for the program.”
“It was really nice to see all of the alumni come back,” said Director of Athletics Don Harnum. “To have four of the original members of Rider softball come back to support the program and the Alumni board on hand, it was a terrific day for Rider Athletics in general and for the Rider softball program.”
“For the current players to see members of the first ream at Rider come back and celebrate 30 years of the program was important,” Carroll added. “You should know the sacrifices that others made so you can play the game in the type of facility that we now have. You have to remember that it didn't used to be like this and you have to remember how far the program has come. I know the current players are thrilled to be able to play at this type of facility.”
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