BUFFALO, NY – The fourth-seeded Rider University softball team's 2022 season came to an end Wednesday with a pair of losses in the MAAC Championships to fifth-seeded Marist and third-seeded Siena. The Broncs lost the first game of the day to Marist, 3-0, before taking a 7-1 setback to Siena in the second game. The Broncs close the season at 28-25-1, while the Red Foxes (25-29) and Saints (29-22) move on in the tournament.

In the top of the first, Marist took a 2-0 lead on a hit-by-pitch, a walk and a costly throwing error on a would-be double play lineout. Instead the Broncs settled for one out and a throwing error that allowed both runners to score from first and second and stake Marist to the two-run lead. The Broncs got the leadoff runner on in fourth and fifth innings. But on both occasions, the runner from first base was doubled up on the next at bat, first on an appeal play after an flyout and next on a 6-4-3 twin killing.

The Red Foxes tacked on a run in the sixth with a pair of singles to open the second. The runner from first went first-to-third on the play and scored when the Broncs tried to catch the runner off first and the ball got away. Rider threatened with runners on second and third in the sixth and added a two-out single in the seventh. But Marist starting pitcher Calista Phippen held on for the complete-game, four-hit shutout.

In the second game, Siena scored three runs in both the third and fifth innings to take a 6-1 lead. The Broncs pieced together a run in the fourth as Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) led off with a single and Laneya Wright (Tucson, AZ/Marana) followed with an RBI double to cut the deficit at that point to 3-1. But with runners on the corners and one out, the Saints got an inning-ending double play. Leading 6-1 heading to the bottom of the sixth, the Saints added an additional insurance run and capped the 7-1 victory.

Notes
- Brooklyn Trujillo-Quintana (Henderson, CO/Prairie View) started the Marist game in the circle and took the loss. She allowed two unearned runs on one hit, two walks and a hit-by-pitch in 1.0 inning pitched. She also came on in relief in the Siena game, allowing one earned run in 1.2 innings pitched.  
- Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) started the Siena game and took the loss. She allowed six runs, four earned, on seven hits, two walks and a hit-by-pitch over 4.0 innings pitched. She struck out one. Groskritz also pitched two scoreless innings of relief in the Marist game.
- Jessie Niegocki (Marana, AZ/Mountain View) also pitched 4.0 innings of relief in the Marist game, allowing one unearned run on five hits and three walks, while striking out four.
- The Broncs earned their first-ever berth into a six-team MAAC Championship. The tournament featured four teams from the Broncs' entrance into the league for the 1998 season until 2013. With the additions of Monmouth and Quinnipiac in 2014 to expand the league from nine softball-playing institutions to 11, the tournament format expanded to six teams. The only exception came last season, when the tournament expanded to eight teams, with the opening round being a three-game series on the higher-seeded team's home field.
- Rider returned to the tournament for the fifth time, including its second-straight berth after taking the No. 7 seed in last year's eight-team tournament. Rider's last appearance prior to 2021 was in 2006. The Broncs also qualified in 2003, when they won their lone MAAC Tournament Championship, and 2004.
- Rider's 28 wins are the team's most since 2004, when the Broncs matched the program record of 35 wins (1994).
- Rider's 28 wins eclipsed the most in Davon Ortega's five-year tenure at Rider by an 11-win margin (17, 2018, 2021).
- Rider finished with a .500 winning percentage or better in league play for the first time since 2010 (8-8). The Broncs finished above .500 in league play for the first time since 2006 (10-6) and just the fourth time in the program's 26 years in the MAAC.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Niegocki finished the season with 66 hits, the most by a Bronc since Jen Cullen had 68 in 2006. The Rider single-season record is 77, accomplished by Colleen Fox in 1999.
- Stansfield also finished with 62 hits. Both Stansfield and Niegocki had more hits than any Bronc since Cullen's 2006 season (68).
- Elena Gonzalez (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge) led the Broncs with three hits on the day.
- Stansfield added two hits and a run. She also reached on a walk.
- Wright had an RBI double.
- Chaela Crowder (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley), Niegocki and Brianna Koonce (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) also had one hit apiece. Niegocki also walked twice, while Crowder drew one walk.