April 11, 2023
Rider Broncs (6-22) vs. Morgan State Bears (20-13)
Time: 2 p.m.  
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb & Joan Young Field
Live Video – ESPN+ | Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- Rider hosts Morgan State to begin a stretch of 11 of the Broncs' next 12 games at home over the next two weeks.
- The Broncs have fallen on tough luck of late, falling in nine straight. All nine have been by two runs or less, as have been 14 of Rider's last 17 losses.
- Freshman Jadeyn Merrill has led the Rider offense thus far, hitting .316 with two home runs and 14 RBI's – all team bests.
- Olivia Burroughs has added a .293 average with a team-best 12 extra-base hits, including 10 doubles, a triple and a home run.
- Jessie Niegocki has also added offensive punch with a .272 average with a team-high 14 runs scored.  
- The Broncs feature a balanced pitching staff, with three different hurlers making between 13 and 15 appearances and between seven and 11 starts. Fallyn Stoeckel leads the group with a 3.14 ERA, while Kathryn Schmierer has a 3.36 ERA and a team-high five complete games. Niegocki has chipped in with a 3.64 ERA with a team-high 55 strikeouts in 59.2 innings pitched.
- Rider's wins this season have come over Wagner (2), Lamar, Cleveland State, North Dakota and Delaware.
- Morgan State (20-13, 10-1 MEAC) has gotten off to a fast start in MEAC play, 10 of its 11 league contests as part of a stretch in which the Bears have won 11 of their last 13 games.
- The Bears are led offensively by Victoria Fletcher, who's hit .383 with six doubles, six home runs and 34 RBI's. Madison Nunez has also driven in her share of runs with four home runs and 20 RBI's, while Asia Thomas has scored a team-high 31 runs.
- The Bears' pitching staff is led by Anaya Hunte with a 12-5 record, a 1.87 ERA, five complete-game shutouts and 97 strikeouts in 108.1 innings pitched. Fletcher has also contributed in the circle with a 7-2 record and a 1.93 ERA.
- The Broncs were picked seventh in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll. In Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega's tenure, the Broncs have never finished below their projected spot in the standings, but finished higher than the league's coaches expectations in three of four seasons in which the year was completed (no conference games were completed in 2020 due to COVID-19). Most recently, the league's coaches tabbed the Broncs eighth last year, with Rider finishing fourth, the largest disparity between projection and results in Ortega's time in Lawrenceville.
- Niegocki was selected to the Preseason All-MAAC Team. She was named to Extra Innings Softball's Top Two-Way Players List after breaking out in her sophomore campaign, hitting .359 with 34 runs scored to go along with six doubles, 16 RBI's and a team-leading .419 on-base percentage. She was also arguably the Broncs' best pitcher, posting a team-leading 2.09 ERA and 127 strikeouts in 100.1 innings pitched. She pitched the first Rider no-hitter in nearly 10 years on April 2 against Fairfield and had three complete-game shutouts on the year. Her 66 hits ranked 68th in the nation last year, while her 8.9 strikeouts per seven innings pitched ranked 41st nationally.
- Niegocki collected the 100^th hit of her Rider career on March 10 against Cleveland State.
- The Broncs are led by sixth-year Head Coach Davon Ortega. Rider's 28 wins in 2022 eclipsed the most in Ortega's five-year tenure at Rider by an 11-win margin (17, 2018, 2021). Following a 15-year absence, Ortega has led the Broncs to back-to-back MAAC Tournament appearances.
- Rider's 28 wins in 2022 were the team's most since 2004, when the Broncs matched the program record of 35 wins (1994).
- Rider finished 2022 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.
- Rider led the MAAC in batting average (.294, 45^th in Division I) and earned run average (2.45, 37^th in D1) in 2022.