College Softball
Saint Peter's College 8, Rider University 4
Saint Peter's College 6, Rider University 5
Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Doubleheader
LAWRENCEVILLE?The Rider University softball team was swept in a Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference doubleheader at Herb & Joan Young Field on Sunday afternoon. “It was frustrating,” said head coach Tricia Carroll. “I don't think we had the energy we needed to come out and play.”
Samantha Gable broke a 5-5 tie in the seventh inning with a two-out RBI single up the middle to give Saint Peter's (4-24, 4-4 MAAC) a 6-5 win in the second game.
Trailing 5-2 in the nightcap, Rider (9-19, 2-2 MAAC) tied the game with a three-run sixth inning on an RBI single from junior Katie Mills (Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier) and a two-run double by junior Lauren Brunner (Chino, Calif./Chino). Mills and Brunner each had two hits in the doubleheader.
In the bottom of the seventh, senior Tiffany Day-Neutill (Agoura Hills, Calif./Oaks Christian) worked a one-out walk before Brittany Eckett (Jackson/Jackson Memorial) flied out to the warning track in left for the second out. The 20 MPH wind blowing in left to right prevented a game-winning home run.
“Brittany just missed it,” said Carroll. “The pitch was a little bit high and she was just under it. It's just disappointing that we had two conference games today that were winnable and after how we started conference play yesterday with two wins, I expected that we would take that next step today and we didn't.”
Saint Peter's led 4-1 in the third when Day-Neutill hit her fourth home run of the season, cutting the Peahen lead to 4-2.
Freshman Samantha Bennett (Staten Island, N.Y./Tottenville) took the loss, working four innings of relief for Rider with two strikeouts.
“I thought Samantha did an excellent job,” said Carroll. “She kept us in the game and gave us a chance to make a come back.”
In the opener, despite two hits by Day-Neutill, Rider lost 8-4.
“I didn't like the energy that we brought to the field today,” Carroll added. “We play our best when we are relaxed and having fun. The effort, attitude and energy were missing. We got down and stayed down.”
Trailing 4-0 in the fourth, sophomore Derrin Minunni (Cohoes, N.Y./Shaker) hit a two-run double to left center for the Broncs.
With Saint Peter's leading 8-2 in the sixth, Rider scored twice on an RBI single from senior Mandi Sekly (Canyon Country, Calif./Canyon) and an RBI grounder from Brunner but that was as close as the Broncs would get. “We started pressing,” said Carroll. “Instead of looking to get on base and get a big inning, everyone was looking for a six-run hit and you can't do that and be successful.”
Brunner went the distance for Rider, recording five strikeouts.
Tricia Reingle won both games for the Peahens, the opener as a starter and the second game in relief. “I thought Reingle did a great job shutting down a pretty good hitting team,” said Carroll.
Rider has won 22 of the 41 games in the series against Saint Peter's that began in 1978 but have lost to their in-state rivals four straight times.
The Broncs host La Salle in a non-conference doubleheader on Tuesday at 3:00pm.
“We did some good things,” Carroll added. “I don't want it to seem that it was all negative. We made some nice defensive plays. I just would have thought with two conference games that the energy would have been higher. We can control that and we need to do a better job of being ready to play, especially in MAAC games. We now have some work to do in the conference and I hope we learn from the things that we didn't do today.”
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