College Softball
Rider University 5, Army 3
Penn Spring Invitational
PHILADELPHIA, Pa.--The Rider University softball team won in come from behind fashion on Sunday, winning a battle over Army to finish third at the Penn Spring Invitational, held March 23-25 at Penn Park and hosted by the University of Pennsylvania.
"We had nine hits on the day," head coach Tricia Carroll said. "And more importantly, only two strikeouts. We put the ball in play with line drives and hit the ball hard on the ground. We are going to be successful when we make the other team make plays. We made Army work for the outs that they got."
Trailing 3-2 in the top of the sixth inning, Rider (8-17-1) freshman Allysen Breeden (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) led off the inning with a single to rightfield, her second hit of the game.
Junior Heather Muscara (North Bellmore, N.Y./Mepham) entered as a pinch runner and after being sacrificed to second, sophomore Ally Coryell (Ewing) knocked her in with a pinch hit RBI single to centerfield. Freshman Amanda Irving (Westminster, Md./Westminster) came in to run for Coryell and after an Army error, scored on a wild pitch as the Broncs took a 4-3 lead.
"Ally came up with a nice pinch hit," said Carroll. "We made some adjustments in the batting order and worked on consistently getting the ball in play. When that happens, we can get runners in motion and manufacture some runs. In the last few weeks, we've been striking out too much and the offense has struggled as a result."
In the seventh, senior Samantha Mayer (Neptune) hit an RBI single down the leftfield line, scoring senior Kelsey Krisch (Parker, Colo./Council Rock HS North) to give Rider an insurance run and a 5-3 lead. Krisch pinch ran for junior Sam Pugh (Elkton, Md./Elkton) after Pugh doubled with one out. Mayer had two of Rider's nine hits.
Breeden, a two-time Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Rookie of the Week honoree, gave the Broncs a 2-0 lead in the first inning with a two-run single down the leftfield line, scoring freshman Gina McCool (Marlton/Cherokee) and junior Alyssa Paul (Toms River/Toms River HS East). McCool extended her hitting streak to five games.
Army scored once in the second inning on a Rider throwing error and the Black Knights took a 3-2 lead in the third inning on three hits including a two-run single.
Bronc senior Rachael Matreale (Williamstown) went the distance for her seventh win of the season, allowing two earned runs while recording two strikeouts.
"Rachael was called for a couple illegal pitches but kept her composure very well," Carroll said. "I was happy with her effort and she pitched a nice game."
The Broncs placed third in the invitational after defeating Army twice while losing to the host Quakers and Villanova. Rider won in eight innings over the Black Knights on Friday by a 2-1 score.
"Except for the game against Penn, I was pretty happy with the weekend," Carroll added. "Against the Quakers, we kind of let the score get away from us (9-1 loss). We matched Villanova pitch for pitch and except for the one inning where we had a few walks, their grand slam is maybe a solo home run instead and then it's a 2-1 or 3-1 game instead of 5-1. 'Nova is a Big East team and they hit the ball hard."
Rider has won 12 of the 24 games in the series that started in 1978 including three in a row and four of the last five. The Black Knights defeated the Broncs 10-3 at the Rebel Spring Games in 2011 and the teams split two games at Herb and Joan Young Field in the 2011 home opener with Rider winning 4-1 in the second game.
Rider travels to New York to face Columbia in a non-conference doubleheader Wednesday at 3pm.
"We are looking to finalize the lineup on Wednesday so that we are set for the conference begging on Saturday," Carroll said about the goals for the upcoming week. "I think we are there but we want to really settle that down so we are ready for MAAC play."
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