Friday-Sunday, Feb. 18-20, 2022
Rider Broncs Softball at Spiro Classic
Location: Greensboro, NC – UNCG Softball Stadium

Friday, Feb. 18 at UNC Greensboro
First Pitch: 4 p.m.
Watch Live – ESPN+
Live Stats – UNCGSpartans.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

Saturday, Feb. 19 vs. George Washington
First Pitch: 11:30 a.m.
Live Stats – UNCGSpartans.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

Saturday, Feb. 19 at UNC Greensboro
First Pitch: 4:30 p.m.
Watch Live – ESPN3
Live Stats – UNCGSpartans.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

Sunday, Feb. 20 vs. George Washington
First Pitch: 12 p.m.
Live Stats – UNCGSpartans.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- The Rider Softball team opens the 2022 season this weekend at the Spiro Classic, hosted by UNC Greensboro and also featuring George Washington.
- The Broncs were picked to finish eighth in the MAAC Preseason Poll.
- Elena Gonzalez and Lani Moreno were picked to the Preseason All-MAAC Team.
- Gonzalez earned All-Region First Team honors last season, becoming the Broncs' first All-Region selection since 2004, when three Broncs – Heather Beintema, Amanda Tu (both First Team) and Maddy Boulden (Second Team) – earned the honor.
- Gonzalez and Moreno were each named to the All-MAAC First Team a year ago, again setting a first since 2004, as the duo was the first pair of Rider teammates to earn the honor. Courtney Weed, Amanda Tu and Heather Beintema each earned the honor in 2004.
- Gonzalez was a versatile and reliable performer in her first full season with the Broncs in 2021, hitting .367 with a team-best three home runs and 33 RBI's. Her 33 RBI's tied for the most in the MAAC, while her 44 hits ranked second. She scored 26 runs, good for second on the team and sixth in the conference, while her .367 batting average also ranked sixth.
- Moreno hit a team-best .415 last season, good for second in the MAAC. Her 37 hits ranked seventh in the league, while her .574 slugging percentage ranked seventh and her .451 on-base percentage was eighth. Her nine doubles tied for most on the team and were seventh in the league.
- Gonzalez and Moreno were joined on the All-MAAC Teams by then-freshman Anna-Marie Groskritz, who was named to the All-Rookie Team after posting a 7-6 record with a team-best 2.71 earned run average with 67 strikeouts in 85.1 innings pitched. She started 14 of 19 appearances as the Broncs' typical Game 2 starting pitcher and had seven complete games.
- In an expanded eight-team field last year, Rider was made its first MAAC Championship appearance since 2006 and just the fourth for the program in 24 years in the league. Seventh-seeded Rider won its first game of a three-game series at second-seeded Canisius and pushed the Griffs to the brink, leading 5-1 after four innings in the decisive third game, before falling, 7-5.
- The Broncs are led by fifth-year Head Coach Davon Ortega. At 17-20 (.459), Rider posted its best overall winning percentage since 2006 (24-28, .461) under Ortega's tutelage.
- Rider last faced UNCG on a neutral field in Conway, SC, in 2017. The Spartans took a pair of wins in the Battle at the Beach, hosted by Coastal Carolina.
- Rider last faced George Washington in its second-to-last contest of the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, Mar. 7, 2020. The Broncs fell, 5-2, at the Colonials' Buff & Blue Challenge.