BALTIMORE, MD – Freshman Keegan Zavodnik (Murrieta, CA/Lakeside) homered, doubled, scored twice and drove in two, but Binghamton edged the Rider University softball team, 6-5, in eight innings Saturday afternoon in the UMBC Retriever Classic. With the loss, the Broncs slip to 2-14, while the Bearcats are now 4-10.
 
The Broncs jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the second on solo home runs from Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) and Zavodnik. The Bearcats grabbed the lead with three runs in the bottom of the third, before Rider scored three of its own in the top of the fourth. Zavodnik doubled home Rachael Zeides (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City) to tie the game at 3-3 after Zeides reached on an error and advanced on a Monica Clark (Bryn Mawr, PA/Archbishop Carroll) sacrifice bunt. Gabby Bram (Jackson, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) then singled and a throwing error on a stolen base attempt allowed Zavodnik to score the go-ahead run. Toni Nino's (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) two-out RBI single made it 5-3.

Binghamton used a single, a stolen base and another RBI single in the bottom of the fifth to pull to within one run and tied the game in the seventh on a two-out hit-by-pitch, single and error to send the game to extra innings. With the international tie-breaker in action and a runner placed on second base, Binghamton bunted the runner to third and scored the winning run with two out on a wild pitch.  
 
NOTES
- Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) went the distance in the circle, allowing six runs, four earned, on seven hits and six walks in 7.2 innings pitched. She struck out eight.
- The home run was the first of Zavodnik's collegiate career.
- Rider returns to action tomorrow, when it plays another game against Binghamton at 11:15 a.m. before taking on host UMBC at 3:45 p.m.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Cuttic went 3-for-4 on the day, including a solo home run.
- Nino and Bram also added hits for the Broncs.
- Zeides and Melanie Wilkinson (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South) each scored a run.