BALTIMORE, MD – Keegan Zavodnik (Murrieta, CA/Lakeside) and Toni Nino (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) had three hits each as the Rider University softball team split a pair of games to close out play in the UMBC Retriever Classic Sunday afternoon. The Broncs began the day with a 6-3 win over Binghamton, before falling to UMBC, 10-3, later in the afternoon. With the results, the Broncs move to 3-15 on the season.

Against Binghamton, the Broncs quickly built a 4-0 lead that it wouldn't relinquish. The Broncs plated their first run in the bottom of the first on a double steal with Maddy Chain (Gloucester, NJ/Gloucester City) breaking from first and Nino scoring from third. Zavodnik then plated Chain with an RBI single to make it 2-0 after one. Two more runs scored on Sam Ward's (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) first collegiate home run to make it 4-0.

Binghamton clawed back into the game with a three-run third, but the Broncs held onto the lead and responded with a run in the bottom of the inning on another Zavodnik RBI single, again scoring Chain. Rider tacked on another in the fourth on a Nino single to score Monica Clark (Bryn Mawr, PA/Archbishop Carroll), making it 6-3 Rider. Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) held the Bearcats off the scoreboard for the final 4.1 innings to complete the victory.

Against UMBC, the Broncs scored a run in the top of the second on consecutive doubles from Zavodnik and Clark. After UMBC countered with two runs in the bottom of the third, Rider tied the game on Cuttic's solo home run in the fourth. But UMBC added two more runs in the bottom of the inning and never trailed again. Rider pulled to within a run on Chain's solo blast in the sixth, but the Retrievers put the game away with a six-run bottom of the sixth.
 
QUOTES & NOTES
"Today's games were proof that this team is a constant work in progress. We did some really good things but also did some not so good things. We're still trying to find some consistency and until we do, we're going to have high's and low's." – Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega

- Cuttic went the distance in the win over Binghamton, allowing three runs, one earned, on 10 hits without walking a batter in 7.0 innings pitched. She struck out three.
- The home run was the first of Ward's collegiate career.
- Debra Jones (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) started the UMBC game in the circle and took the loss. She allowed four earned runs on five hits in 3.2 innings pitched. She struck out two.
- Rider returns to action Wednesday, when it travels to Lafayette for a doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Against Binghamton, the Broncs scored in four consecutive frames to begin the game, marking the first time this season that Rider has scored in four-consecutive innings in a single game.
- For the tournament three-game tournament, Zavodnik led the Broncs with five hits in nine at bats, driving in four and scoring three runs.
- Cuttic and Nino also had four hits each in the tournament.
- Chain matched Zavodnik's three runs on the weekend to tie for the team lead.