Friday, May 3, 2019
Rider Broncs (7-43, 3-13 MAAC) vs. Fairfield Stags (25-19, 9-7 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb and Joan Young Field
First Pitch: 12 p.m.
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

Saturday, May 4, 2019 – SENIOR DAY
Rider Broncs (7-43, 3-13 MAAC) vs. Iona Gaels (17-22, 11-5 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb and Joan Young Field
First Pitch: 12 p.m.
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- The Rider Softball team closes out the season with a pair of doubleheaders this weekend against Fairfield and Iona. The Fairfield doubleheader was moved from Sunday to Friday due to a threatening weather forecast.
- Prior to Saturday's game, the Broncs will honor their four-member senior class as part of Senior Day ceremonies. Maddy Chain, Amanda Jordan, Brianna Parisio and Kiera Swank will each play their final games with the Broncs.  
- The Broncs will look to snap a 10-game losing skid. The losses have come in consecutive doubleheaders to Quinnipiac, Army West Point, Siena, Marist and Morgan State.  
- Fairfield and Iona each enter the weekend holding position for MAAC Championship berths. At 11-5, Iona is currently third, while Fairfield is tied with Niagara for fifth place at 9-7.
- Fairfield has dominated the all-time series with the Broncs, 37-9, including wins in each of the last 16 meetings. Rider's last win over the Stags came in 2010.
- Iona holds a 22-21 edge in the all-time series with Rider, including the last four. The Gaels took a pair of close games (4-2, 2-1) last season in New Rochelle. The Broncs' last win came on the road in 2016.
- Fairfield features a potent offense, with its top seven hitters all hitting over .300. Amanda Ulzheimer leads the way at .403 with 28 runs scored, while Mikayla Rubin is the Stags' top run producer with 30 RBI's. Courtney Hankins is another feared hitter at .349 with a team-high four home runs and 21 RBI's.
- The Stags have three pitchers who've started between 13 and 15 games, with Katie Kudlacik leading the group at 11-5 with a 2.82 ERA. Lauryn Rhinehart is 8-6 with a 3.08 ERA and a team-high 77 strikeouts, while Karisa Hughen has also posted a 5-7 record and 4.13 ERA in 15 starts. Lacey Olaff has posted a team-best 1.99 ERA in 16 appearances, all but one coming in relief.
- Jessica Chilcott is hitting a team-best .319 with 11 doubles for Iona, while Ciarra Diguilio has hit .307. Jasmine Temple is Iona's top power threat with five home runs and 27 RBI's.
- Freshman Kara Zazzaro has emerged as the Gaels staff ace, with a 1.21 ERA and a team-best 10 wins. She's struck out 130 batters in 138.1 innings pitched. Marnie Skinner has matched Zazzaro with 18 starts, posting a 7-10 record with a 4.45 ERA.
- Rider's top pitching performance of the year came from Debra Jones on April 23 at Quinnipiac. The sophomore tossed seven no-hit innings, but the Broncs' offense couldn't provide any run support. The Bobcats finally broke through for its first hit and score the game-winning run in the eighth inning.
- Jones also struck out 12 in 10 innings in Game 1 at Saint Peter's on April 13 and had 18 strikeouts in 12.1 innings in the doubleheader. Jones' 12 strikeouts are the most in a single game for Rider since Rachael Matreale struck out 13 on three occasions in 2012. The 12 strikeouts also represent Rider's first double-digit strikeout performance since Matreale did it four times in 2012.
- Two of the Broncs' three MAAC wins have come against hOURglass rivals. Rider defeated defending MAAC Champion Monmouth – the Hawks' lone league loss at the time - in the Game 2 of its April 7 doubleheader, while defeating Saint Peter's in Game 1 on April 13. Rider split with Niagara on March 30 for its first league win.
- Rachael Zeides has produced a team-high 15 RBI's this seaon. Elyse Cuttic (11) and Melanie Wilkinson (10) are the other two current Broncs with double-digit RBI's.
- Brooklyn Trujillo limited Monmouth to just three runs, two earned, on eight hits and three walks over 10.1 innings pitched on April 7. She picked up a complete-game victory, her team-leading third win of the year, in Game 2.
- The Broncs have found success against Ivy League foes, posting wins against Penn and Princeton.
- Jones spun a gem in the circle on April 3 at Princeton, allowing just one earned run on four hits without walking a batter. She struck out six. She won two games in a three-appearance stretch, including a relief stint in which she hurled 2.2 perfect innings against Niagara, and currently has three wins, tied for the team lead with Trujillo.  
- Wilkinson had a two-game stretch to remember on March 24 at Central Connecticut. The sophomore went 3-for-5 with three home runs and nine RBI's. Entering the game through parts of two seasons, Wilkinson had totaled just one home run and 13 RBI's over 60 games played.
- Kelsey Marigliano leads current Broncs with a .316 average, 20 runs scored and five stolen bases.
- The Broncs were successful on their first nine stolen-base attempts of the season. Marigliano has stolen five bases, while Lani Moreno and Grace Stansfield have a pair of thefts. Rachael Zeides, Gianna Epps and Brianna Parisio have one stolen base each.
- The Broncs were picked 10^th in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll and Elyse Cuttic was named a Preseason All-MAAC honoree. Cuttic earned All-MAAC Second Team in 2018 as DP.