PHILADELPHIA – Kaitlyn Kallert (Woodland Park, NJ/Passaic Valley) pitched six scoreless innings in Game 2, but the Rider University softball team was swept at Penn, 6-0 and 1-0, Sunday afternoon. The Broncs (3-16) and Quakers (9-8) played the first seven innings of Game 2 scoreless before Penn's Molly Oretsky hit a pinch-hit, walk-off home run to lead off the bottom of the eighth. 

A single, a stolen base, and an error allowed the first Penn run to score in the first inning of Game 1, before the Quakers added two more each in the fourth and fifth innings. Four singles did the damage in the fourth, before two runs scored on a fielder's choice and error in the fifth. A Sarah Cwiertnia home run gave the Quakers insurance in the sixth, before starter Alexis Sargent closed out a complete-game, four-hit shutout with 10 strikeouts. 

In Game 2, Kallert kept the Quakers off balance for six innings. She scattered four hits and a walk, while striking out a season-high five batters. Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) replaced Kallert in the circle for the seventh and got three groundouts to send the game to extra innings. But Oretsky hit the walk-off home run to lead off the eighth. Penn starting pitcher Courtney Cuzick spun a complete-game, three-hit shutout with eight strikeouts.  

“Great outing for our pitchers today. Emily and Kate showed dominance on the mound and we had solid defense behind them. The only missing ingredient are the at bats. Once we get those going, we will be rolling.” – Rider Head Coach Jaclyn Timko

• For the second-straight day, the Broncs played a game into the eighth inning scoreless.

• Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) took the Game 1 loss, allowing five runs, three earned over 4.0 innings pitched. She struck out three.

• Kallert pitched two innings of relief in Game 1, allowing one earned run on one hit, while striking out three.

• Freshman Brianna Parisio (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) collected her first-career hit in Game 1. 

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS

• Kiera Swank (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) went 2-for-2 with a pair of singles and a walk in Game 1. 

• Sabrina Torres (Clifton, NJ/Paramus Catholic), Monica Clark (Bryn Mawr, PA/Archbishop Carroll), Gabby Bram (Jackson, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) and Delany DeMello (Roseville, CA/Roseville) also had one hit each for the Broncs.

The Broncs return to action Wednesday, when they play host to Wagner in a doubleheader. First pitch from Herb and Joan Young Field is slated for 2:30 p.m.