March 22, 2024
Rider Broncs (6-14) vs. Saint Peter's Peacocks (8-10)
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
- The Rider Softball team plays host to Saint Peter's in non-conference Friday afternoon doubleheader on ESPN+.
- The games are being played as non-conference contests due to the change in the league schedule this year, with all teams playing eight three-game series and missing two teams on the league docket. The Broncs and Peacocks are not scheduled to play each other in league competition in 2024.
- The Broncs have won six games thus far in 2024, taking a pair of games from North Carolina Central and another from Towson at the ECU Pirate Invitational, before defeating Lafayette at the Mizuno Invitational at North Carolina and earning a victory over Kansas City at the Connie Claussen Classic. Most recently, the Broncs split their home-opening doubleheader with Army West Point on March 16.
- Kristyn Gardner is hitting a team-best .353 on the season, including a home run and seven RBI's. Jessie Niegocki is also hitting .333 with eight runs scored and five RBI's, while Asiah Bell has matched Niegocki's .333 average.
- Kendall Reda-Fehsal has also contributed a .296 batting average and a team-high 11 RBI's and eight runs scored.
- Niegocki leads the Rider pitching staff with a 2.21 ERA. She's struck out 20 batters in 19.0 innings pitched. Jadeyn Merrill has also posted a 2-1 record and a 2.29 ERA. Anna-Marie Groskritz leads the Broncs with 23 strikeouts in 30.0 innings pitched.
- Groskritz pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout to defeat Army West Point in the Broncs' home opener on March 16, striking out a career-high 10 batters.
- Kaitlynn Peters leads the Peacocks with a .400 batting average, while Maiah Skakal has also hit .370. Dakota Pitts and Jess Forte have hit .316 and .315, respectively, with each currently at three home runs and nine RBI's. Taylor Montgomery (.306) and Sydney Orndorff (.302) give Saint Peter's six regulars hitting over .300. Cara McNulty leads the Peacocks with 12 RBI's while hitting .273.  
- Angelina Wagner and Kristen Brennan have each won four games in the circle for Saint Peter's. Wagner has a 4.55 ERA over 32.1 innings pitched, while Brennan has posted a 5.78 ERA in a team-high 53.1 innings pitched. No other Saint Peter's hurler has reached 16 innings pitched.
- The Broncs were picked to finish seventh in the MAAC Preseason Poll, matching their 2023 finish in the league. Saint Peter's was picked one spot and three points behind Rider in eighth.
- Two-time All-MAAC selection Jessie Niegocki was once again tabbed to the Preseason All-MAAC Team at utility. Niegocki hit a team-best .333 with 32 runs, eight stolen bases and a .413 on-base percentage offensively, while also leading the Broncs as a pitcher with a 3.19 ERA, 10 wins and 118 strikeouts in 118.1 innings pitched, limiting opponents to a .242 batting average.
- Also back for the Broncs is All-MAAC Second Team DP Jadeyn Merrill, who hit .281 with seven doubles, three home runs, 24 RBI's and 16 runs scored as a freshman in 2023. Her average rose to .320 in league contests, where she drove in nine runs and scored five times. She contributed eight multi-hit games.
- The Broncs return their entire pitching staff from 2023 and one of their best pitcher from the two years prior. Niegocki, Kathryn Schmierer (3.44 ERA, 99.2 IP), Fallyn Stoeckel (3.83 ERA, 80.1 IP) and Merrill (3.94 ERA, 21.1 IP) return from last year's staff, while Anna-Marie Groskritz (2.64 ERA, 207.0 IP in 2021-22) returns to the circle for the Broncs following an injury that claimed her entire 2023 season.
- Rider also welcomes eight newcomers in junior college transfer outfielder Asiah Bell and freshmen Kiersten Buchanan (Infield - Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs), Abby Cruz (Catcher - Corona, CA/Santiago), Shelby Dyer (Outfield - Clarksboro, NJ/Kingsway), Kendall Reda-Fehsal (Catcher - Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury), Olivia Smith (First Base - Freehold, NJ/Freehold Township), Tristen Wren (Outfield - Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Etiwanda) and Kayley York (Infield - Telford, PA/Souderton Area)
- The Broncs are led by seventh-year Head Coach Davon Ortega. Rider's 28 wins in 2022 were the most in Ortega's tenure at Rider by a nine-win margin (19, 2023). Following a 15-year absence, the Broncs made back-to-back MAAC Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022.