LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Toni Niño (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) had three hits, including the 100^th of her career, and Payton Romines (Colorado Springs, CO/Air Academy) went 4-for-5 with four RBI's as the Rider University softball team completed a 4-0 weekend in MAAC play with a sweep of hOURglass rival Saint Peter's on Saturday. The Broncs took Game 1, 5-4, before coming from behind to win Game 2, 7-3. With the wins, the Broncs improve to 12-22 (5-5 MAAC), while the Peacocks fall to 3-27 (0-8 MAAC).

In Game 1, the Broncs put four runs on the board in the bottom of the second inning to build an early advantage. Starting pitcher Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) helped her own cause, leading the inning off with a home run, before Rachael Zeides (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City) and Gabby Bram (Jackson, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) singled consecutively and Sam Ward (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) was hit by a pitch to load the bases. Romines (Colorado Springs, CO/Air Academy) collected an RBI single, before Bram scored the third run on a failed force attempt at the plate. Later in the frame, Melanie Wilkinson (Richboro, PA/Council Rock South) drove in a run on a fielder's choice.

Saint Peter's scored three runs in the fourth and tied the game with a single tally in the fifth. But with two outs in the bottom of the sixth, Sabrina Torres (Clifton, NJ/Paramus Catholic) delivered a pinch-hit RBI single to right field to score Romines with what proved to be the winning run.

In Game 2, Saint Peter's opened a 2-0 lead on a sac fly in the first and an errant throw on a sacrifice bunt in the second, before Romines delivered an RBI single in the bottom of the second to cut the deficit in half at 2-1. After a solo home run in the third pushed the Peacocks' lead back to two, Romines tied the game at 3-3 with a two-run double in the bottom of the fourth.  

The Broncs plated four runs in the bottom of the sixth to put the game out of reach. Bram singled on a hard ground ball up the middle before Romines pushed pinch runner Brianna Parisio (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) two bases to third on a sacrifice bunt. Parisio then scored on a Ward groundout. The Broncs reloaded the bases on an Amanda Jordan (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) double, Niño hit-by-pitch and Torres walk, before Swank's single to right got past the right fielder and cleared the bases for a 7-3 Rider lead.  

QUOTES & NOTES
"I'm happy we came up with two wins today, but I'm not happy with our level of intensity or effort. We need to work hard on being mentally tougher. Hopefully we will allow this momentum and some rest this week to carry us into next week's games stronger." – Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega

- Debra Jones (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) took the Game 1 win, pitching 2.2 innings of perfect relief. She struck out two.
- Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) earned the Game 2 win, pitching 4.0 scoreless innings of relief. She scattered four hits and a walk, while striking out six.
- Rider has a .500 winning percentage at the halfway mark of league play for the first time since 2012, when the Broncs were 5-3 in a 16-game league slate and improved to 7-3 before finishing 7-9 in the MAAC.
- Rider has the next week off before traveling to Fairfield on Saturrday, April 21. The doubleheader is scheduled for a noon first pitch.
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Niño collected her 100^th career hit, becoming the second Bronc to do so this season (Monica Clark).
- A day after 10 different Broncs had a hit in a sweep of Manhattan, nine different Rider players tallied a hit in the sweep of Saint Peter's.   
- Zeides scored a team-high three runs, while Romines and Cuttic crossed the plate twice each.
- Romines had a team-high four RBI's, while Swank drove in two.
- Niño improved to 7-for-7 with an uncontested stolen base in Game 2.  
- Niño scored her 33^rd run of the year. Only Dana Sensi (33 in 2015), Kehli Washington (34 in 2013) and Allyson Melia (40 in 2010) have scored as many or more runs in a single season than Niño in the last 10 years of Rider Softball.
- Through 34 games, Rider has scored 175 runs. In a full 50-game slate in 2017, the Broncs scored only 82 runs.  
- Rider's RBI leader had 11 last season. 10 Broncs currently have at least 11 RBI's and an 11^th has nine.   
- Swank threw out the only attempted base stealer of the day against her for her fourth caught stealing of the year.