College Softball
Rider University 4, Manhattan College 0
Rider University 6, Manhattan College 4
LAWRENCEVILLE--No fooling. The Rider University softball team is in first place in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
On April fool's day, the Broncs used two complete games from senior Rachael Matreale (Williamstown) to sweep Manhattan College in a MAAC doubleheader, 4-0 and 6-4, opening conference play 2-0 for the first time since the 2010 season.
"These are games we had to win," said head coach Tricia Carroll. "We want to make sure we get the wins where we feel we should be getting the wins and we went out and did that. With only 16 conference games, every one of them is important. And at home especially, we should be winning."
In the opener, Matreale recorded her eighth career shutout, throwing a two-hitter with seven strikeouts.
"Rachael has been great this year," said Carroll. "After that rough first weekend at UNC-Greensboro, she re-focused and has just gotten the job done for us." Since the opening five games at the UNC-Greensboro tournament (0-2, 8.29 e.r.a.), Matreale is 10-4 with a 1.58 earned run average, recording 104 strikeouts in 106 1/3 innings.
Junior Sam Pugh (Elkton, Md./Elkton) broke a scoreless tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly, scoring sophomore Lisa Blanton (Hilliard, Fla./Hilliard) who led off the inning with a single to rightfield.
Blanton went two for two with two runs scored in the opener and had three hits on the day.
Rider (11-18-1, 2-0 MAAC) plated three insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth, two of them coming on a single by junior Alyssa Paul (Toms River/Toms River HS East). Paul went five for seven in the doubleheader and had two stolen bases.
"Alyssa is a junior and is batting in the two spot in the order," said Carroll. "That is the production that we expect. With her, it is confidence, being relaxed and swinging at good pitches."
"We knew coming into the game that we had to work hard to get the wins," Paul said. "Manhattan has less wins than we do but that doesn't mean anything once conference play starts. They played us tough and it felt good to get some hits that got the team going. Once one person gets a hit, it gets the whole team going."
In the nightcap, Matreale recorded eight strikeouts as the Broncs held on for a 6-4 win.
"We played really well," Matreale said. "These are conference games and we wanted to start MAAC play strong. We wanted to start off conference play right."
"Rachael pitched awesome," Paul said. "She came through for us."
Rider jumped out to a 2-0 first inning lead on a two-run double to the centerfield fence by freshman Gina McCool (Marlton/Cherokee). McCool had two doubles in the doubleheader.
Paul hit an infield single to shortstop, putting the Broncs ahead 3-0 in the second inning.
"Getting early runs helped me settle down in the second game," Matreale added. "When you throw both games, the hitters see you six and seven times and I just worked on making Manhattan put the ball in play and let the defense do the work."
"It was important to get Rachael runs early," Paul said about the second game. "She was able to go out and relax and let the defense work behind her. The defense had been playing solid."
Rider made only one error in the 64 chances on Sunday.
After Manhattan (1-20, 0-2 MAAC) cut the Rider lead to 3-1 in the top of the third inning, the Broncs rallied in the bottom half of the inning with two runs on four hits, the big blow a two-run home run by freshman Amanda Irving (Westminster, Md./Westminster), the first of her career as Rider increased its lead to 5-1.
"We're hoping the home run gets Amanda on track," Carroll said. "We need her to cut down on the strikeouts because her defense has been solid at second base and we want to keep her in the lineup."
Pugh hit an RBI single to right centerfield putting the Broncs ahead 6-1 in the bottom of the fourth before the Jaspers completed the scoring with a three-run home run in the top of the fifth inning.
"We're not the type of team that can leave runs on the field," Carroll said about the 15 runners left on base. "We feel good about the games today but the offense really has to come up bigger in some spots than we did today. You don't know which at-bat is going to be the difference in the game (first inning or seventh inning) so you can't give any away. When you have an opportunity to push runs across, we need to do it."
Matreale, a Second Team All-MAAC honoree as a junior, is 3-3 all-time against Manhattan in conference play, recording 33 strikeouts in 38 1/3 innings pitched. Matreale has 10 of Rider's 11 wins this season and is eight strikeouts away from the 500 K plateau.
The games against the Jaspers were originally scheduled for Saturday and were moved back 24 hours due to the rain that plagued the area starting late Friday night.
The Broncs have matched their conference win total from a year ago after only two games and Rider's 11 wins have already surpassed the entire win total from 2011.
"Opening undefeated in conference gives us added confidence," Paul said. "It gives us what we like to call our 'swag' and with that momentum, I think our play as a team will keep improving."
Rider has won four of its last five games and six of the last nine.
Manhattan, which has yet to play at home this season, has lost 15 in a row and the Jaspers have been out-scored 140-44. The Jaspers lone win this season came against Lafayette at the Rebel Spring Games (1-0) on March 12.
The Broncs and Jaspers have met 30 times with Rider winning 16 in the all-time series. Rider and Manhattan met last season in Riverdale, New York when the Jaspers swept the two-game set, 1-0 and 6-3 on April 30, 2011, despite the Broncs out-hitting the Jaspers in both games. Rider and Manhattan split two games in Lawrenceville in 2010 with the Broncs winning 7-5 after losing 12-0 in the opener. In 2009, the teams split two MAAC games in Riverdale. In 2008 and 2007, the teams also split their two conference games. Manhattan swept Rider in 2006 and 2005 and the teams split in 2004.
Rider last swept a MAAC series at Fairfield on May 9, 2010, winning 2-0 and 12-2. The Broncs last swept a home MAAC series on April 10, 2010 when Rider won twice over Marist, 8-0 and 8-4, opening MAAC play 4-0 that season.
The Broncs host Lehigh in a non-conference doubleheader at Herb and Joan Young Field on Wednesday at 3pm.
No fooling, the Rider softball team is undefeated and in first place in the MAAC after a sweep of Manhattan on April fool's day.
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