NORFOLK, VA – Jessie Niegocki (Marana, AZ/Mountain View) went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and Elena Gonzalez (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run and six RBI's to lead the Rider University softball team to a 13-3, mercy-rule-shortened five-inning win at Norfolk State to begin the Spartan-Pirate Clash Friday afternoon. With the win, the Broncs improve to 2-3, while the Spartans are now 8-6.

The Broncs scored runs in four of five frames, including four in the top of the first. The first two runs scored on a Gonzalez double, before RBI singles from Lani Moreno (Claremont, CA/Claremont) and Chaela Crowder (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) made it 4-0. An error following Amanda Cooper's (Huntsville, TX/Huntsville) infield single in the second allowed two more runs to score, making it 6-0 Broncs.

The Spartans cut the deficit in half with a pair of solo home runs, one in the second and another in the third, before adding another run-scoring groundout in the third to make it 6-3. But the Gonzalez's two-run home run in the top of the fourth made it an 8-3 Rider advantage and the Broncs went on to score five more runs in the fifth to push to a 13-3 lead. Crowder's fielder's choice plated a run, before Kristyn Gardner (Perryville, MD/Perryville) made her first hit as a Bronc a pinch-hit RBI single. Niegocki followed with an RBI single up the middle and Gonzalez capped the scoring with a two-run single. The support was more than enough for Brooklyn Trujillo-Quintana (Henderson, CO/Prairie View), who close the door on a complete-game effort in the circle in the bottom of the fifth.
 
Quotes & Notes
"Today was a good team win. We had aggressive at bats, great pitching and our defense came to play." – Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega

- Trujillo-Quintana (Henderson, CO/Prairie View) picked up her first win of the season in the circle, allowing three earned runs on four hits and two walks over 5.0 innings. She struck out one.
- The Broncs continue play in the Spartan-Pirate Clash tomorrow, when they face Bryant at noon and Norfolk State at 2 p.m. in Norfolk, VA.   

Broncs by the Numbers
- Niegocki went 4-for-4 with three runs scored and an RBI.
- Gonzalez went 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, six RBI's and two runs scored.
- Cooper added a 3-for-4 effort with an RBI and three runs scored.
- Moreno, Brianna Koonce (Warminster, PA/William Tennent), Crowder and Gardner each added one hit.
- Moreno, Koonce, Gardner, Trujillo-Quintana and Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) each scored a run.
- Crowder drove in two, while Moreno and Gardner each had one RBI.