College Softball
Rider University 7, Fairleigh Dickinson University 1
Butler University 9, Rider University 2
KISSIMMEE, Fla.--The Rider University softball team split two games at the Rebel Spring Games in Florida Friday afternoon.
In the opener against FDU, junior Rachael Matreale (Williamstown) threw a complete game, recording eight strikeouts and allowed only one unearned run as the Broncs won 7-1.
"Rachael pitched very well in the opener," said head coach Tricia Carroll. "Except for the one run that we gave them, for the most part, we played solid defense."
Sophomore Alyssa Paul (Toms River/Toms River HS East) and freshman Laura Gallagher (Flanders/Mendham) each had two of Rider's seven hits with freshman Kehli Washington (New Rochelle, N.Y./New Rochelle) picking up two RBI.
Trailing 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, Rider put together five hits and took advantage of a Knight error to score six times and take a five run lead. Paul had an RBI single in the inning with Gallagher hitting a two-run single to right. Washington followed with a two-run single to left.
"The inning wasn't pretty said Carroll. "Their pitcher made some mistakes and we'll take the runs any way we can get them. Sometimes you get games like that and you have to put the ball in play and make things happen."
The Broncs tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning for the final score.
In the second game against Butler, Rider used an RBI single to break a scoreless tie in the fourth inning by Gallagher, scoring junior Lucy Higgins (Westminster, Mass./Notre Dame Academy) who had singled up the middle with one out. Higgins and Gallagher each had two hits for the Broncs in the second game.
The Bulldogs took the lead with six runs (on five hits) in the fifth inning.
"Butler is a good team and we were holding them and doing well," Carroll said. "A hit here and a hit there and some mistakes in letting runners move up a base and the inning got away from us. We gave a good team too many opportunities."
The Broncs used a throwing error by Butler to get within 6-2 in the top of the sixth inning before the Bulldogs scored three times in the bottom half of the sixth for the final score.
Freshman Krysti Maronski (Woodbury Heights/G.C.I.T.) took the loss in relief of senior Sam Bennett (Staten Island, N.Y. /Tottenville) who worked two innings, allowing only one hit.
"We are not hitting consistently right now," Carroll added. "We are not bunching hits together to produce runs. We are struggling a bit in that area. Some bats that we were counting on have not materialized at all. We had opportunities against Butler to make it a better game and we didn't."
Rider plays the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay and Colgate in Florida on Saturday before returning north.
"We want to win both on Saturday," said Carroll. "We've done some good things and had some bad things and we want to play well tomorrow and figure out who we are and what we have prior to conference playing beginning in a few weeks. We've been a little up and down and hopefully we will come together on Saturday."
The 2011 home opener is scheduled for March 23 at 3pm when Rider will host Lafayette at Herb and Joan Young Field on the Lawrenceville campus.
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