April 13, 2023
Rider Broncs (8-22) vs. Monmouth Hawks (6-25)
Time: 3 p.m.  
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb & Joan Young Field
Live Video – BroncVision
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- Rider hosts Monmouth in the third game of a stretch of 11 of 12 games at home over a two-week period.
- The Broncs snapped a nine-game losing streak Tuesday with a sweep of MEAC leader Morgan State (20-15). Five different Broncs had three hits apiece and Jessie Niegocki and Kathryn Schmierer both pitched complete games in the circle.
- The Broncs had fallen on tough luck in the nine-game losing streak. All nine were lost 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 .333 with three home runs and 17 RBI's – all team bests.
- Olivia Burroughs has added a .309 average with a team-best 13 extra-base hits, including 10 doubles, a triple and two home runs.
- Jessie Niegocki has also added offensive punch with a .284 average with a team-high 15 runs scored.  
- The Broncs feature a balanced pitching staff, with three different hurlers making between 13 and 16 appearances and between seven and 12 starts. Kathryn Schmierer leads the group with a 3.12 ERA and six complete games, while Fallyn Stoeckel has a 3.14 ERA. Niegocki has chipped in with a 3.41 ERA with a team-high 68 strikeouts in 65.2 innings pitched, including a career-high 13 K's vs. Morgan State on April 11.
- Rider's wins this season have come over Morgan State (2), Wagner (2), Lamar, Cleveland State, North Dakota and Delaware.
- Monmouth (6-25, 5-10 CAA) is led offensively by Devin Coia with a .305 batting average. Abby Warner's three home runs and 11 RBI's are both team bests, while Francesca Torraca's speed poses issues on the basepaths, going 5-for-5 on stolen-base attempts with a team-high nine runs scored.
- Billie Kerwood is the Hawks' top pitcher with three wins and a team-best 2.78 ERA. She's fanned 105 batters in 90.2 innings pitched.
- 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.