March 29-30, 2024
Rider Broncs (7-15) vs. Canisius Golden Griffins (7-10, 2-0 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb & Joan Young Field
Live Video – BroncVision | Friday (both games) | Saturday
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- The Rider Softball team opens MAAC play Friday, when it plays host to Canisius for a doubleheader, followed by a single game Saturday. The entire series will be broadcast on BroncVision.
- Rider is coming off a non-conference doubleheader split with Saint Peter's. The games were 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.
- Rider walked off with a Game 1 win over the Peacocks, breaking out for three runs in the bottom of the seventh. Maddie Luedtke tied the game with a two-run triple, before scoring the winning run on Jadeyn Merrill's walk-off RBI single.
- Most recently, the Broncs fell in both games of a doubleheader at local foe Princeton on Tuesday.
- The Broncs have won seven 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 home doubleheaders with Army West Point (March 16) and Saint Peter's (March 22).
- Asiah Bell leads the Broncs with a .353 batting average, while Kristyn Gardner is hitting .342 on the season, including a home run and eight RBI's. Jessie Niegocki is also hitting .338 with nine runs scored and six RBI's.
- Kendall Reda-Fehsal has also contributed a .297 batting average and a team-high two home runs, 13 RBI's and nine runs scored. Maddie Luedtke has also hit .286, matching Reda-Fehsal's two home runs and driving in 10.
- Merrill leads the Rider pitching staff with a 2.29 ERA. Niegocki has also posted a 3.55 ERA, striking out 24 batters in 23.2 innings pitched. Fallyn Stoeckel and Anna-Marie Groskritz leads the Broncs with 25 strikeouts apiece in 43.0 and 35.1 innings pitched, respectively.  
- Christie McGee-Ross leads the Griffs with a .366 batting average and eight runs scored, while Gianna Fazzolari has hit .360 with two home runs and a team-high 14 RBI's. Rosie Gomez has also hit .333 with two home runs and eight RBI's, with Emily Ilano also hitting over .300 at .325 with a team-high six doubles.
- Two-time defending MAAC Pitcher of the Year Megan Giese has posted a 6-5 record with 2.40 ERA and 74 strikeouts in 67.0 innings pitched so far this season. Kate Wiggins gives the Griffs a formidable second option with a team-leading 2.33 ERA over 30.0 innings.  
- The Broncs were picked to finish seventh in the MAAC Preseason Poll, matching their 2023 finish in the league. Perennial contender Canisius was picked second with three first-place votes.
- 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.
- 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 returned 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.