WEST POINT, NY – Rachael Zeides (Woodbine, NJ/Ocean City) collected four hits, but the Rider University softball team was swept in a doubleheader at Army West Point Wednesday afternoon. The Black Knights took the first game, 9-1, in six innings before holding on for a 6-4 Game 2 victory. With the losses, the Broncs slip to 7-37, while the Black Knights are now 25-26.

The Broncs opened the Game 1 scoring in the top of the first. Kelsey Marigliano (Seaford, NY/Plainledge) led off the inning with a walk, moved to second on a passed ball and scored on Zeides' two-out RBI single up the middle. But the Black Knights responded with four runs in the bottom half of the inning. Army got consecutive singles to lead off the inning and scored their first run on consecutive walks. Following a sacrifice fly to give the Black Knights the lead and a strikeout for the second out, Bianca Gonzalez hit a two-run single to push the Army lead to 4-1 after one.

Army tacked on one run in the second and two more in the third to push the advantage to 7-1. In the sixth, the Black Knights would add two more to enact the mercy rule.

In Game 2, Army got three runs in the third, with the first four batters reaching on a double, two fielder's choices and a two-run triple to put the Black Knights on top, 3-0. The Broncs got on the board in the fourth on a Shelby Miller (Roseville, CA/Whitney) solo home run and cut the deficit to 3-2 on a two-out RBI double from Lani Moreno (Claremont, CA/Claremont) to score Gabby Bram (Jackson, NJ/Red Bank Catholic), who'd led off the fifth with a single.

A walk and a bunt single set the table for Army West Point in the bottom of the fifth, with two runs scoring on a sac fly and an RBI groundout. The Black Knights' lead swelled to 6-2 on an error in the bottom of the sixth, but the Broncs wouldn't go down without a fight. Bram singled, Elyse Cuttic (Easton, PA/Bethlehem Catholic) walked and Marigliano singled to load the bases with no one out. Moreno's fielder's choice plated Bram, before Miller's two-out RBI single made it 6-4. But the Broncs couldn't come up with any more two-out magic.

QUOTES & NOTES
"I was glad to see us do some things we haven't done all season today. The offense gave us a little bit and we had some good pitching performances. We can do some good things forward if we continue today's performances and put together a complete game." – Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega

- Emily Oltman (Collegeville, PA/Perkiomen Valley) went the distance in Game 1, allowing nine runs, eight earned, on nine hits and eight walks in 5.2 innings pitched. She struck out two.
- Cuttic got the ball in Game 2, allowing six runs, five earned, on five hits and one walk. She struck out five.  
- The Broncs return to action Saturday, when they travel to Siena. First pitch of the doubleheader is scheduled for noon.

BRONCS BY THE NUMBERS
- Zeides upped her team-leading RBI total to 14.
- Miller and Moreno each drove in two. Miller also scored a run.
- The home run was Miller's first of the year and her second as a Bronc. The other home run came April 12, 2017, against Fairleigh Dickinson.
- Bram, Marigliano, Moreno and Maddy Chain (Glocester, NJ/Gloucester City) had two hits apiece.
- Bram scored a team-best two runs.
- Cuttic walked twice and scored a run.