DAVIS, CA – Freshman Gianna Epps (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) delivered a walk-off RBI single in the eighth against UC Davis as the Rider University softball team split a pair of games to open the Capital Classic Friday. Rider fell to Santa Clara, 4-3, before defeating the Aggies, 2-1, in eight innings. With the split, the Broncs move to 1-13 on the year.

Rider rallied late from down 4-0 to Santa Clara in Friday's first game, but the Broncos held on for the one-run win. Santa Clara relied on strong starting pitching and tacked on runs in the third and fourth inning on their way to a 4-0 lead. However, Rider would rally in the sixth on some timely two-out hitting. Freshman Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, Pa/William Penn Charter) got it started with an RBI single through the left side, bringing home Brianna Parisio (Sayreville, NJ/Sayreville War Memorial) for the Broncs first run of the game. Sophomore Sam Ward (Bridgewater, NJ/Bridgewater Raritan) followed with a two-run, pinch-hit homer to left, cutting the deficit to one. Epps led off the inning with a walk and would later reach third with the tying run and two out, but was stranded there as the Broncos closed out the victory.

A pitcher's duel in Game 2 left the game scoreless through five and a half innings. Though playing at UC Davis' home field, the tournament format dictated that Rider would bat second. The Broncs plated a run in the bottom of the sixth, as Epps doubled and came around to score from second on a bunt single up the middle from Kelsey Marigliano (Seaford, NY/Plainledge). The Aggies evened the score in the top of the seventh on a one-out, RBI single, but with the international tie-breaker in play in the eighth, Rider starting pitcher Brooklyn Trujillo (Henderson, CO/Prairie View) worked a 1-2-3 inning with a strikeout and two groundouts.

In the bottom half inning, Rider executed perfectly with a Gabby Bram (Jackson, NJ/Red Bank Catholic) sacrifice bunt and Epps' game-winning RBI single down the right-field line to score Amanda Jordan (Somerset, NJ/Franklin Township), who'd started the inning placed on second base, to give Rider the 2-1 win.

NOTES
- Trujillo picked up her first collegiate win, allowing just one earned run on five hits and a walk over eight innings pitched. She struck out two.
- Debra Jones (Bordentown, NJ/Bordentown) got the start against Santa Clara and took the loss, allowing four earned runs on seven hits and four walks over 3.1 innings pitched. She struck out one.
- Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) kept things close with 2.2 scoreless innings against Santa Clara. She limited the Broncos to just one hit and two walks.
- After going without a home run in the season's first 11 games, Rider had a round tripper for the second-consecutive game. Ward followed Rachael Zeides' (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City) home run this past Saturday against North Carolina A&T.
 - The Broncs continue Capital Classic action tomorrow at Sacramento State. The Broncs face Santa Clara again at 12:30 p.m. (ET), before facing the host Hornets at 5:30 p.m. (ET).   
 
BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Rider tied its season high with three runs against Santa Clara.
- Epps and Zeides each had three hits, including a double, on the day.
- Ward drove in two to match Zeides for the team lead in RBI's.
- Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) added a pair of hits.
- Stansfield, Epps and Marigliano each drove in one run.
- Epps stole her first base as a Bronc, pushing Rider's total to 5-for-5 in stolen-base attempts this year.
- Kiera Swank (Bear, DE/Caravel Academy) walked twice for her fifth and sixth free passes of the year, tying Marigliano for the team lead.