College Softball
Rider University 3, Columbia University 0 / (8)
Columbia University, 3 Rider University 0
NEW YORK, N.Y.--Senior Rachael Matreale (Williamstown) threw a complete game three hit shutout, recording four strikeouts for her eighth win of the season as the Rider University softball split a non-conference doubleheader at Columbia on Wednesday afternoon in New York.
"Rachael was awesome," said head coach Tricia Carroll who saw her Broncs improve to 9-18-1 in 28 games after winning nine times (out of 46 games) all of last season. "She is keeping us in games and giving us a chance."
Tied 0-0 in the eighth inning of the opener, Rider staged a two-out rally with sophomore Ally Coryell (Ewing) hitting an RBI single up the middle, scoring freshman Allysen Breeden (Hagerstown, Md./North Hagerstown) who had reached on a Lion error.
Coryell had two of Rider's 10 hits.
"We had 10 hits," Carroll said. "Honestly, I thought with that amount of offense, we should have scored more than three runs. They are playing hard and working but we are still struggling to get that 'clutch' hit when we need it on a consistent basis."
Sophomore Krysti Maronski (Woodbury Heights/Gloucester County Inst. of Technology), who is normally a pitcher, followed Coryell and picked a great time for her first collegiate hit, a two-run single up the middle, giving the Broncs a 3-0 lead.
Matreale, who threw 121 pitches, 78 for strikes, is now 23 strikeouts from the 500 K career plateau.
Also for Rider in the opener, sophomore Kehli Washington (Lulea, Sweden/New Rochelle) and Breeden each had two hits. Washington, who had four hits in the doubleheader, has now hit safely in six straight games.
In the nightcap, Rider was held to five hits in the 3-0 loss.
Columbia plated two runs (one unearned) on three hits in the first inning off senior Kelsey Krisch (Parker, Colo./Council Rock HS North).
Leading 2-0, the Lions plated an insurance run with an RBI single in the fifth inning for the final score.
"Columbia was a few hits better in the second game," Carroll said. "The biggest difference is coming up with hits with runners in scoring position. They (Columbia) did that when the opportunity presented itself and we didn't."
Krisch worked the first four innings, recording one strikeout with Maronski pitching the final two frames, scattering three hits and giving up one run.
Maronski threw 26 pitches, 17 for strikes.
Columbia has won 17 of the 30 games all-time in the series that started in 2001. The Lions swept Rider in 2011 in Lawrenceville, 9-1 and 10-1. Rider and Columbia met four times in 2010, twice in Florida with the Broncs winning both (2-1 and 7-0) and twice in New York with Rider winning the opener 4-3 and the Lions taking game two 7-1. Columbia won two of three from Rider in 2009.
"I was happy with the energy and effort today," Carroll added. "We are gaining confidence and we just have to continue to work hard and the offense will come around."
The Broncs improved to 3-2 in extra inning games in 2012.
Rider hosts Manhattan on Saturday in the 2012 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference opener for both teams. The doubleheader is slated for a 1pm start at Herb and Joan Young Field on the Lawrenceville campus.
"It sounds funny but we do all of the work (off-season, pre-season, non-conference) to get to this point, the conference schedule," Carroll said. "We are at home and we need to get off to a good start in MAAC play. With a 16-game schedule to qualify for the four-team conference playoffs, every play is magnified and every pitch is important. We worked hard and we have prepared ourselves for this part of the season. I'm glad we open at home and this is a feisty group that has the potential to be very successful."
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