Thursday-Friday, May 20-21, 2021
MAAC Championship Quarterfinals
#3 Rider Broncs (18-16) vs. #6 Niagara Purple Eagles (17-15)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Sonny Pittaro Field
First Pitch: 11:00 a.m. (Thursday)/12:00 p.m. (Friday)
Live Video – ESPN+ - Game 1 | Game 2 | Game 3
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Tournament Central – MAACSports.com
 
What You Need To Know
- Third-seeded Rider will play host to sixth-seeded Niagara in the MAAC Quarterfinal round Thursday and, if necessary, Friday.
- All games in the tournament will be broadcast live on ESPN+.
- This year's MAAC Championships have been expanded to eight teams, with the first round being contested in a best-of-three series at the higher-seeded team's home field. The final four teams will advance to a double-elimination tournament at the highest-remaining seed's home field, to be played next Wednesday through Saturday, May 26-29.
- Seeding was determined based on number of wins. Only Fairfield (33) and Monmouth (22) had more wins than Rider (18) this year. Marist, Canisius and Niagara finished in a three-way tie for fourth with 17 wins apiece.
- Rider took 3-of-4 from Niagara in a season-opening series, March 20-21, on Sonny Pittaro Field. The Broncs won the first three games of the four-game series, including a 1-0 walk-off win in the first game. Pete Soporowski pitched a complete-game two-hit shutout in the win, striking out nine.
- Soporowski and David Bermudez were named to the All-MAAC Second Team on Wednesday, while Brian Skettini earned MAAC All-Rookie Team honors.
- Soporowski has posted a 5-2 record with a 2.85 ERA and a team-high 52 strikeouts in 47.1 innings pitched. He twice earned MAAC Pitcher of the Week this season, on March 22 and May 3. He's pitched three complete-game shutouts this season, including his last two outings.
- Bermudez leads Broncs who've played 70 percent of Rider's games played with a .289 batting average, .408 slugging percentage and .419 on-base percentage in 25 games played, all starts. He's got six doubles, 14 runs scored and 11 RBI's. He reached base safely in 13 consecutive games from March 21 through April 10, the second-longest streak of the season for the Broncs.
- Rider last qualified for the MAAC Championships in 2017, while its last MAAC title came in 2010.
- Niagara snapped a decade-plus long tournament drought in 2018, when it made its first appearance since 2006.
- Rider and Niagara last squared off in the MAAC Championships in 2006, when the Purple Eagles staved off elimination and took a 9-1 victory.
- Cole Tucker is batting a team-best .381 for Niagara. He has 32 hits, including eight doubles and two homeruns, 16 runs scored and 16 RBIs and is 6-for-6 in stolen bases.
- Niagara's top pitcher has been Jacob Bruning (3-2), who leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 38 in 39.0 innings pitched. He has an ERA of 3.92 and has tossed one seven-inning complete game.