LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) fired a complete-game shutout with a career-high 10 strikeouts in Game 1 as the Rider University softball team split its home-opening doubleheader with Army West Point Saturday afternoon at Herb & Joan Young Field. With the split, the Broncs move to 6-12, while the Black Knights are now 4-19.

In Game 1, the Broncs scored the only three runs of the game in the bottom of the first. A pair of errors set the table for Kristyn Gardner's (Perryville, MD/Perryville) run-scoring groundout, before a third error allowed Asiah Bell (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro [Central Ariz. Coll.]) to score the Broncs' second run. A two-out RBI single from Maddie Luedtke (Gibbstown, NJ/Gloucester County Institute of Technology) scored Kendall Reda-Fehsal (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) to give Rider a 3-0 lead after one.

The support was more than enough for Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) in the circle. She struck out 10 in a complete-game shutout, limiting the Black Knights to just two hits and three walks. Army West Point's biggest threat came in the third, when they put runners on second and third with one out. But Groskritz got a pop out and a flyout to keep the Black Knights off the board.

In Game 2, the Black Knights took a 2-0 lead on three hits and two errors in the fourth. Mikayla Klepfer's two-run single pushed the two runs across. Rider would answer in the bottom of the sixth with two runs to tie the game. Jadeyn Merrill (Lamesa, TX/Lamesa) led off with a double, before scoring on an error. Reda-Fehsal advanced to third and scored on a pair of fielder's choices to knot the game at 2-2 after six, before Army ultimately won the game with three runs in the top of the seventh. The runs scored on three hits and two errors, including an RBI single from Kayla Edwards and a two-run single form Caitlyn Newburn. Reda-Fehsal had a one-out single in the bottom of the seventh, but the Black Knights held the Broncs off the scoreboard to close out the Game 2 victory.

Notes
- Groskritz pitched a complete-game shutout, allowing just two hits and three walks while striking out 10 to defeat the Black Knights in Game 1.
- The complete-game shutout is Groskritz's second of the season (March 10 vs. Kansas City).
- Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) started Game 2 in the circle and took the loss. She went the full 7.0 innings, allowing five runs, three earned, on 10 hits and one walk, while striking out five.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- Jessie Niegocki (Marana, AZ/Mountain View) went 2-for-4 in Game 2.
- Reda-Fehsal scored a run and drove in one in Game 1 before adding two hits in Game 2.
- Merrill had a hit in each game, while also walking and scoring a run in Game 1.
- Luedtke had a hit and an RBI in Game 1.
- Gardner drove in a run in Game 1.
- Kiersten Buchanan (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs), Olivia Burroughs (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) and Shelby Dyer (Clarksboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) each had a hit in Game 1.
- Bell scored a run in Game 1.
- Amanda Cooper (Huntsville, TX/Huntsville) added a hit in Game 2.

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Tuesday, when they play host to Seton Hall. First pitch of the doubleheader from Herb & Joan Young Field is scheduled for 2 p.m.