College Softball
Game 1 - Villanova University 6, Rider University 5
Game Two - Rained Out
Rider's Harris four hits incl. a home run and double
LAWRENCEVILLE--It was wet, got to be a little wild by the last inning but the third 'W', a win eluded the Broncs on Wednesday as the Rider University softball team lost to Villanova at Herb and Joan Young Field on the Lawrenceville campus.
The second game was washed out in the fourth inning and will not be made up.
In the opener, Rider (10-23-1) broke a scoreless tie in the third inning on back to back doubles by senior Ally Melia (Toms River/Toms River HS North) and senior Candice Harris (Henderson, Nev./Coronado). Harris took home on the back end of a steal attempt at second base to give the Broncs a 2-0 lead. Harris finished with four hits on the day.
Villanova (18-24) tied the score on two hits and a Rider error in the fourth inning with the Broncs responding in the bottom half of the fourth with an RBI double by sophomore Lucy Higgins (Westminster, Mass./Notre Dame Academy). Higgins had two hits on the day.
The Wildcats tied the game at three on a home run in the fifth inning and after a Bronc error, took a 4-3 lead on a wild pitch.
Villanova extended its lead to 6-3 in the top of the seventh on a two-run home run before Rider made things interesting with a home run from Harris, her second of the season, and an RBI double by freshman Heather Muscara (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) for the final score as the Broncs stranded the tying run at second base. Muscara had two hits in the game.
"We've been doing this all year," said head coach Tricia Carroll. "We've been competing but not winning. We need to figure out how to not almost win and get the victory. We hit the ball hard and staged a comeback but we left way too many opportunities out there and we gave them some runs as well."
Rider is now 2-7 in one run games this season.
Sophomore Rachael Matreale (Williamstown) took the loss for Rider, working the complete game, allowing three earned runs with one strikeout.
"Rachael pitched well for about five innings," Carroll said. "Collectively, everyone played well for about five of the innings and we need to do it for all seven."
In the nightcap, the Wildcats led 3-0 with two outs in the top of the fourth inning before darkness and heavy rain forced the game to be halted.
This was the fifth meeting between Rider and Villanova with the Wildcats winning all five.
The first game was delayed 41 minutes due to lightning detected in the area.
The atmosphere was electric and not just because of the lightning as the game was Code Cranberry for the softball team, a unified showing of support from Rider's 20 varsity sports. Over 250 fans and student-athletes were in attendance and also enjoyed free hamburgers, hot dogs and drinks, courtesy of the Department of Athletics.
On designated Code Cranberry dates, all varsity student-athletes are asked to come out to the contest, wearing their Code Cranberry tee shirt, and cheer on their fellow student-athletes in an effort to show that while they compete in different sports, they are all part of one team, and that team is Rider Athletics.
Rider travels to Columbia for a non-conference doubleheader at 3pm on Thursday.
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