April 20-21, 2024
Rider Broncs (14-24, 6-6 MAAC) vs. Fairfield Stags (10-26, 7-8 MAAC)
Location: Lawrenceville, NJ – Herb & Joan Young Field
Live Video – BroncVision | Saturday | Sunday
Live Stats – GoBroncs.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider

What You Need To Know
- The Rider Softball team continues a stretch of nine games at home in a span of 11 games (Apr. 13-24), when it hosts Fairfield for a three-game series this Saturday and Sunday. The two teams will play a noon doubleheader on Saturday, before finishing the series with one game Sunday at noon.  
- Prior to Sunday's noon start, the Broncs will honor their four-member senior class on Senior Day. Amanda Cooper, Anna-Marie Groskritz, Jessie Niegocki and Laneya Wright will be honored.
- Rider opened MAAC play with a pair of series wins, taking 2-of-3 from both Canisius and Manhattan. Since then, the Broncs have dropped 2-of-3 at Iona and at home against Siena to even their record at 6-6.
- Fallyn Stoeckel has hit .519 (14-for-27) since March 29, raising her batting average to a team-best .348. Kristyn Gardner is next on the team with a .338 average to go along with three home runs and 11 RBI's, while Jessie Niegocki is hitting .336 with 14 runs scored. Jadeyn Merrill has contributed a .330 average with 17 RBI's, while Kiersten Buchanan has hit .326. Maddie Luedtke has hit .290 with a team-leading five home runs. Luedtke's also has 16 RBI's. Kendall Reda-Fehsal has added four home runs and driven in a team-high 18.
- Niegocki also leads the Rider pitching staff with a 2.36 ERA. Merrill has added a pair of wins in the circle and a 3.32 ERA, while Anna-Marie Groskritz and Kathryn Schmierer have won four games each. Groskritz leads the team with 52 strikeouts in 68.0 innings pitched, while Stoeckel has collected a pair of wins while hurling a team-high 71.1 innings.  
- Morgan Sylvestre leads the Stags offensively with a .410 average. Charli Warren has hit .325 with a team-high 27 runs scored. She's also stolen a team-high 14 bases. Allie Bridgman's four home runs and 22 RBI's are both team bests.
- Bailey Taylor leads Fairfield with a 4-3 record and a 3.40 ERA in the circle, while Alyssa Weinberg has gotten the ball for a team-high 77.0 innings over 23 appearances, including 13 starts, posting a 4-10 record with a 5.45 ERA. Chela Kovar has also contributed a 5.12 ERA in 65.2 innings pitched.    
- In non-conference play, the Broncs have won eight games 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. The Broncs have also split doubleheaders with Army West Point (March 16), Saint Peter's (March 22) and Morgan State (April 17).
- 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.
- The Broncs were picked to finish seventh in the MAAC Preseason Poll, matching their 2023 finish in the league. Fairfield was picked third in the poll.
- 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.