FAIRFIELD, CT – Toni Niño (Adelanto, CA/Silverado) went 5-for-8, but the Rider University softball team dropped a pair of close games at defending MAAC Champion Fairfield, 5-3 and 4-1, Saturday afternoon. With the losses, the Broncs fall to 12-24 (5-7 MAAC), while the Stags are now 16-23 (8-4 MAAC).
The Broncs scored first in Game 1, with starting pitcher
Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) helping her own cause with a two-out, two-run double to score
Amanda Jordan (Somerset, NJ/Franklin) and
Keegan Zavodnik (Murrieta, CA/Lakeside) in the third. But Fairfield scored three in the bottom of the inning and added single tallies in the fourth and fifth to take a 5-2 lead. The Broncs threatened in the top of the seventh, loading the bases with one out, but could only muster one run on an RBI fielder's choice by
Rachael Zeides (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City).
In Game 2, the Broncs evened the score at 1-1 in the top of the sixth after loading the bases with no one out, again getting a run-scoring groundout from Zeides. But Rider settled for the one run and Fairfield responded with three runs in the bottom of the frame to take the 4-1 victory.
QUOTES & NOTES
"Our pitching was good today and really kept us in both games. Unfortunately our timely hitting and defense were not on and it cost us. We have to remain focused and all in as we move forward."
– Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega
- Rider received a pair of complete-game efforts from starting pitchers Cuttic and
Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley).
- Cuttic allowed five runs, two earned, on eight hits and a walk in 6.0 innings pitched. She struck out two.
- Just one of the four runs Oltman surrendered was earned. She allowed eight hits and four walks, while striking out three in 6.0 innings.
- Rider returns to action Tuesday, when it plays host to Villanova. The doubleheader is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. first pitch.
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- With five hits, Niño ran her season total to 41, tying her sophomore-year total in eight fewer games.
- Cuttic and Zeides each had two RBI's.
- Niño scored her 34
th run of the year. Only 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.
- Jordan added a pair of hits and a run scored. Seven other Broncs had one hit apiece.
- Through 36 games, Rider has scored 179 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.
- Zavodnik threw out the only attempted base stealer of the day against her for her sixth caught stealing of the year.