LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Lani Moreno (Claremont, CA/Claremont) had four hits on the day and Chaela Crowder (Simi Valley, CA/Simi Valley) went 3-for-4 with four RBI's in Game 2 as the Rider University softball team split a MAAC doubleheader with Garden State rival Monmouth Wednesday afternoon on Herb & Joan Young Field. Monmouth took Game 1, 3-0, before the Broncs got a shutout of their own, 7-0, in Game 2. With the regular-season-finale split, the Broncs (28-23-1, 11-9 MAAC) clinch a berth in the MAAC Championships, their first in the six-team-field era (since 2014) after qualifying for the eight-team field as the No. 7 seed last season. Monmouth moves to 9-38 (4-14 MAAC) with the loss.

The Hawks took Game 1 with a single tally in the fourth and two-run home run in the sixth. The three runs were more than enough for Hawks starting pitcher Kylie Gletow, who pitched a complete-game, six-hit shutout.

In Game 2, the Broncs immediately put five runs on the board in the bottom of the first and never trailed. Rider scored five runs on five hits and an error, including a bases-clearing single nearly to the right-center field wall from Crowder. The other runs scored on a fielder's choice on which Jessie Niegocki (Marana, AZ/Mountain View) beat the throw home and a Gianna Epps (Pottstown, PA/Pottstown) bunt single.

Rider tacked on single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to push the lead to 7-0. Crowder plated Laneya Wright (Tucson, AZ/Marana) with a single up the middle in the fourth, before Niegocki plated Epps with a single down the right field line in the fifth. Rider starting pitcher Brooklyn Trujillo-Quintana (Henderson, CO/Prairie View) was spectacular in her final appearance on Herb & Joan Young Field, pitching a complete-game, three-hit shutout to punch the Broncs' ticket to the postseason.

Notes
- Niegocki started Game 1 in the circle and took the loss. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and a walk, while striking out nine.
- Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) pitched 1.2 perfect innings of relief, striking out two.
- Trujillo-Quintana earned the win in Game 2, limiting the Hawks to three hits and two walks over 7.0 shutout innings. She struck out two.  
- The Broncs now await their tournament destination and opponent. Canisius is currently in the top spot in the standings. One Griffs win Sunday vs. Niagara would clinch Buffalo as the host site, while the Broncs could be as high as the No. 3 seed or as low as the No. 6 seed. In either event, they'd open MAAC Championship play in the opening round, Wednesday, May 11.
- Rider finishes MAAC play with a winning record for the first time since 2006 (10-6) and just the fourth time in the program's 26 years in the MAAC.
- Rider's 28 wins are the team's most since 2004, when the Broncs matched the program record of 35 wins (1994).

Broncs by the Numbers
- Moreno went 4-for-6 on the day with a double and a run scored. She also reached on a hit-by-pitch.
- Crowder, Epps and Grace Stansfield (Philadelphia, PA/William Penn Charter) added three hits apiece. Epps and Stansfield had a run and an RBI each and Epps also stole a base.
- Brianna Koonce (Warminster, PA/William Tennent) went 2-for-3 in Game 1 and also reached on a walk and stole a base in Game 2.
- Niegocki went 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI in Game 2.
- Kaitlin Vazquez (Howell, NJ/Donovan Catholic [Brookdale C.C.]), Elena Gonzalez (Ashburn, VA/Stone Bridge), Wright and Amanda Cooper (Huntsville, TX/Huntsville) had one hit apiece.
- Gonzalez doubled, walked, scored a run and stole a base in Game 2.
- Wright scored twice.