PRINCETON, NJ – The Rider University softball team pieced together a six-run sixth inning to win Game 1 and played Princeton scoreless for six innings before darkness set in to tie in Game 2 Wednesday afternoon at Princeton Softball Stadium at Strubing Field. With the results, the Broncs improve to 25-20-1, while the Tigers are now 22-14-2.

Trailing 2-0 heading to the sixth following a sacrifice fly in the third and an RBI double in the fifth of Game 1, the Broncs rudely greeted relief pitcher Meghan Harrington in the sixth. Through five innings against starter Alexis Laudenslager, the Broncs pieced together just one infield single, four walks and a hit-by-pitch. But Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) got things started in the sixth vs. Harrington with a single, before a dropped pop up put runners on second and third. Stansfield scored the Broncs' first run on a wild pitch and after another walk and another wild pitch, Lani Moreno (Claremont, CA/Claremont) gave the Broncs the lead with a two-run single. The Broncs would tally three more runs in the inning on a Gianna Epps (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) RBI single and two more Broncs crossing home on wild pitches. All told, the Broncs tagged Harrington with six runs, five earned, on five hits and a walk without recording an out. Broncs starting pitcher Jessie Niegocki (Marana, AZ/Mountain View) made the support hold up in a complete-game effort.

Pitching and defense was the story in Game 2. Princeton starting pitcher Molly Chambers limited Rider to one infield hit, one walk and one hit-by-pitch over 6.0 shutout innings. Epps provided the lone Rider hit and advanced to second on an error on the play, before taking third on a wild pitch with one out. But Chambers got a pair of strikeouts to strand Epps.

Rider starting pitcher Kathryn Schmierer (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) pitched 5.1 scoreless innings, scattering four hits and a walk. Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) is partially responsible for keeping Schmierer's line clean, as she entered with runners on the corners with one out, but got a strikeout and a pop out to end the sixth and preserve the tie. Prior to the sixth, Schmierer hadn't allowed a Princeton baserunner past second base.  

Notes
- Niegocki earned the Game 1 win in the circle, allowing two earned runs on two hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch in 7.0 innings pitched. She struck out seven.
- Schmierer pitched 5.1 scoreless innings in the Game 2 start, scattering four hits and a walk, while striking out four.
- Groskritz stranded inherited runners at the corners in the sixth with a strikeout and a pop out, while walking one.
- Princeton now leads the all-time series with Rider, 46-17-1. Rider is now 2-1-1 against the Tigers under Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega, including a split in Princeton in 2019.   
- The Broncs return to action Saturday, when they travel to Siena for a noon doubleheader.     

Broncs by the Numbers
- Epps and Moreno led the Broncs with two hits each on the day. Both scored and drove in a run, with Moreno accounting for two RBI's.
- Brianna Koonce (Warminster, PA/William Tennent), Chaela Crowder (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) and Stansfield also had one hit each. Crowder and Stansfield scored once each.
- Stansfield also reached twice on hit-by-pitches and was successful on the Broncs' lone stolen-base attempt on the day.
- Niegocki also walked twice.
- Laneya Wright (Tucson, AZ/Marana) and Olivia Burroughs (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) each scored a run.