CONWAY, SC –
Toni Nino (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) had three hits and four other Broncs added two apiece, but the Rider University softball team fell in a pair of games to Kent State and Robert Morris Saturday afternoon at the Battle at the Beach, hosted by Coastal Carolina. Rider fell in another heartbreaker against the Golden Flashes, 10-9, in nine innings, following a pair of heartbreakers to open the season on Friday. Robert Morris then defeated the Broncs, 13-4, in five innings to conclude the day.
Rider led Kent State, 7-3, with two outs in the top of the seventh thanks to a run in the fourth and six more in the fifth.
Kiera Swank's (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) two-run double capped the scoring and
Debra Jones (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) had pitched 4.1 scoreless innings of relief in her Rider debut until there were two out in the top of the seventh. Down to its last out, Kent State tied the game at 7-7 on a Hunter Brancifort grand slam.
Each team would score a run with the international tie-breaker in play in the 8
th, before Kent State scored twice more in the ninth. The Broncs got one back, but fell, 10-9.
Against Robert Morris, the Colonials jumped out to a five-run lead with three in the first and two more in the second. Rider battled back with three runs in the top of the third, including a two-run single from Nino and another RBI single from
Maddy Chain (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester City). But the Colonials scored two more in the fourth and six in the fifth to enact the mercy rule.
NOTES
- Jones and
Megan Master (Ventnor City, NJ/Atlantic City) made their Rider debuts.
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Melanie Wilkinson (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South),
Sam Ward (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) and
Payton Romines (Colorado Springs, CO/Air Academy) collected their first-career hits, while
Monica Clark (Bryn Mawr, PA/Archbishop Carroll),
Amanda Jordan (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) and
Brianna Parisio (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) contributed their first hits of the year.
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Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) took both losses in the circle Saturday. She came on in relief against Kent State and started against Robert Morris.
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Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) started Game 1, while Master made a relief appearance against Kent State.
- Both Swank and
Keegan Zavodnik (Murrieta, CA/Lakeside) caught a base stealer from their catcher position, holding the opposition without a stolen base (0-2) on the day.
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Nino led the Broncs with three hits, two runs scored and two RBI's.
- Swank went 2-for-3 with a double, two RBI's and two runs scored. She's now 3-for-4 on the year and has reached base safely in 6-of-7 plate appearances, adding a pair of walks and a hit-by-pitch.
- Chain drove in a pair of runs after contributing four RBI's yesterday for a team-leading six RBI's.
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Rachael Zeides (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City) added a pair of hits, two RBI's and a run scored a day after going 3-for-3 in her collegiate debut.
- Romines not only collected her first-career hit, but added a second, going 2-for-4.
- Jordan contributed two hits, two runs and a stolen base.
