***April 15 DH Postponed to April 25***
April 15, 2023
Rider Broncs (9-22, 0-4 MAAC) vs. Saint Peter's Peacocks (19-11, 0-4 MAAC)
Time: 12 p.m.  
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb & Joan Young Field
Live Video – ESPN3 | Game 1 | Game 2
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

April 16, 2023
Rider Broncs (9-22, 0-4 MAAC) vs. Manhattan Jaspers (6-25, 2-2 MAAC)
Time: 12 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 Saint Peter's Saturday and Manhattan Sunday in a pair of MAAC doubleheaders this weekend. The Broncs are in the midst 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 win streak reached three-straight with an 11-7 Thursday win over Monmouth in a single game. Gianna Epps led the way, going 3-for-5, while Olivia Burroughs went 2-for-4 with a bases-clearing double.
- 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 and sophomore Olivia Burroughs have led the Rider offense thus far, each hitting .318 with 18 RBI's. Merrill has a team-high three home runs, while Burroughs has a team-leading 11 doubles and 14 extra-base hits.  
- Jessie Niegocki has also added offensive punch with a .286 average with a team-high 17 runs scored.  
- The Broncs feature a balanced pitching staff, with three different hurlers making between 14 and 16 appearances and between eight and 12 starts. Kathryn Schmierer leads the group with a 3.07 ERA and six complete games, while 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. Fallyn Stoeckel has a 3.87 ERA across 14 appearances, including eight starts, while Jadeyn Merrill has a 3.34 ERA in eight relief appearances.
- Rider's wins this season have come over Morgan State (2), Wagner (2), Monmouth, Lamar, Cleveland State, North Dakota and Delaware.
- Saint Peter's has cleaned up with an 18-2 record against MEAC (9-0), SWAC (6-1) and NEC (3-1) competition, while posting a 1-9 mark against America East (1-1), Big Ten (0-2), CAA (0-1), MAAC (0-4) and MAC (0-1) members.
- Jess Forte leads Saint Peter's with a .408 average and five home runs, while five others have averages of .290 or better with enough plate appearances to qualify. Dakota Pitts (21) and Tai Turner (20) are the Peacocks' RBI leaders.
- A pair of Sydney's lead the Peacocks' pitching staff, with Sydney Palmer owning a 6-4 record with a 2.33 ERA over 63.0 innings pitched and Sydney Senerchia posting a 10-3 record with a 2.37 ERA over 76.2 innings pitched.  
- Manhattan had fallen on hard times with a 14-game losing streak spanning nearly a month, before emphatically snapping it with a win over Wagner and a doubleheader sweep over Fairfield. Most recently, the Jaspers were swept by Stony Brook on Thursday and will face Mount St. Mary's on the road Saturday.
- Gabriella Mazzotta leads the Jaspers with a .311 average and 13 extra-base hits, including nine doubles. Her 14 RBI's, 14 runs scored and nine stolen bases in 11 attempts are also team bests. Marika Deemer has also hit .284 with a team-best .394 on-base percentage and three home runs, driving in 13. Maddy Weir has hit .274 with a pair of home runs, while Tajiana Pickett is tied for the team lead with three homers, while Kaitlyn Flood has matched Mazzotta's 14 runs scored.
- Pitching has been a problem for the Jaspers, as Manhattan's staff has posted a 6.05 ERA. Sophia Kiseloski leads the group with a 5.18 ERA in a team-high 74.1 innings pitched. Makayla Veneziale has swing-and-miss stuff, striking out 50 batters over 41.2 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.