NEW ROCHELLE, NY – Kiersten Buchanan (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs) and Jadeyn Merrill (Lamesa, TX/Lamesa) had four hits each and Olivia Burroughs (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) and Kendall Reda-Fehsal (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) chipped in with three hits apiece as the Rider University softball team split a doubleheader at Iona to begin a three-game MAAC series Tuesday. The Broncs took Game 1, 7-5, before Iona walked off with a Game 2 victory, 5-4. With the split, the Broncs move to 12-20 (5-3 MAAC), while the Gaels are now 11-18 (8-3 MAAC). 

In Game 1, the Broncs jumped on the Gaels for six unanswered runs with three-run frames in the first and fifth innings. A Tristen Wren (Rancho Cucamonga, CA/Etiwanda) hit-by-pitch and singles from Kristyn Gardner (Perryville, MD/Perryville) and Reda-Fehsal loaded the bases for Merrill, who drove in the first two runs with a double. Consecutive walks from Buchanan and Burroughs pushed a third run across.

In the fifth, the Broncs put runners on the corners with a Maddie Luedtke (Gibbstown, NJ/Gloucester County Institute of Technology) walk and a single from Merrill, before Buchanan's squeeze bunt went for a single and a 4-0 lead. Merrill and Buchanan would later score on fielder's choices to push the Broncs' advantage to 6-0. Iona would cut Rider's lead in half in the bottom of the frame on two hits, three free passes and an error, before Luedtke's solo shot in the top of the sixth pushed Rider's lead to 7-3. Iona pulled to within two runs on a two-out, two-run double from Brianna Bailey in the bottom of the sixth. The Gaels then loaded the bases with two out in the seventh, but Kathryn Schmierer (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) got a fly ball that Luedtke tracked down in the left-center field gap for the final out.

In Game 2, the Gaels took a 1-0 lead on an error in the bottom of the first, before the Broncs scored twice in the top of the second to take their first lead of the game. Merrill and Buchanan hit consecutive singles, before Laneya Wright (Tucson, AZ/Marana) was hit by a pitch to load the bases with one out. Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) then ripped a two-run single to left center to make it 2-1 Rider. A triple and a sacrifice fly for the Gaels in the third knotted the game at 2-2. Rider again had an immediate answer as Reda-Fehsal delivered a two-run single up the middle in the top of the fourth, scoring Wren and Wright to make it 4-2.

But Iona would score three runs in the bottom of the seventh to walk off with Game 2. Consecutive one-out singles put runners on the corners before the first run scored on a fielder's choice that erased a runner at second base. But a two-out Jamie Sheeran triple to right tied the game at 4-4 and Mary Jane Nicholson won it with a fly ball to right center that dropped for a walk-off RBI single.
 
Notes
- Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) started Game 1 and earned the win, allowing three runs, two earned, on four hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitches over 4.1 innings pitched. She struck out one.
- Schmierer pitched the final 2.2 innings to pick up the save, her first of the year. She allowed two earned runs on four hits, a walk and two hit-by-pitches. She struck out three.   
- Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) went the distance in Game 2 in taking the loss. She allowed five runs, four earned, on 10 hits and a hit-by-pitch. She struck out six.  

Broncs by the Numbers
- Buchanan went 4-for-7 with a pair of runs scored and an RBI. She also walked and stole a base.
- Merrill went 4-for-8 with a double, two RBI's and two runs scored.
- Burroughs went 3-for-5 with a double, two singles, a walk and a hit-by-pitch. She drove in one.
- Reda-Fehsal doubled, drove in two and scored a run. She also drew a walk.
- Luedtke added a pair of hits, including her team-leading fifth home run of the year, and scored twice. She also drew a walk.
- Asiah Bell (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro [Central Ariz. Coll.]), Stoeckel, Gardner, Wright and Wren each added a hit. Wright drove in a run and scored another, while Gardner scored once. Stoeckel drove in two, while Wren scored twice.

Up Next
The Broncs wrap up the three-game series at Iona tomorrow with a single game at noon.