May 8-11, 2024
MAAC Softball Championships
Rider Broncs (23-26)
Location: Poughkeepsie, NY – Marist Softball Park
Live Video – ESPN+ | Wednesday
Live Stats – GoRedFoxes.com
Twitter – Twitter.com/SoftballRider
Tournament Homepage – MAACSports.com
Tickets – MAACSports.com

What You Need To Know
- The third-seeded Rider Softball opens MAAC Championship play Wednesday, when it faces sixth-seeded Siena in the opening round at 11 a.m. from Marist Softball Park in Poughkeepsie, NY.
- Rider's No. 3 seed is its highest since 2006 and the second-highest in the program's 27-year history in the league. The Broncs were the No. 2 seed in 2004, while earning the No. 3 seed in 2003, 2006 and this season. Rider won the 2003 MAAC Championship, its only title in the league, as the No. 3 seed.
- For the sixth time in seven years under Head Coach Davon Ortega, Rider exceeded the expectation of her peers. Picked to finish seventh in the MAAC Preseason Coaches Poll, Ortega led the Broncs to a third-place finish. The only time Rider did not outplay their projection was in 2023, when the Broncs were picked and finished seventh.
- Rider's 23 wins are the second-most in Ortega's tenure, eclipsed only by the Broncs' 28 wins in 2022. Following a 15-year absence from the MAAC Tournament, Ortega's teams have qualified in three of the past four years.
- Four Broncs were named to the All-MAAC Teams. Jessie Niegocki (utility) and Fallyn Stoeckel (outfield) earned Second Team recognition, while Kiersten Buchanan and Kendall Reda-Fehsal were picked to the All-Rookie Team. The honor was the third of Niegocki's career following First Team nods in each of the last two seasons.
- Against the tournament field, the Broncs were 5-6 this season. Rider did not face Marist in the first year of an unbalanced MAAC slate in which teams play eight of the league's other 10 teams (Rider also did not play Saint Peter's in league play). Rider split a pair of games with Niagara, while leading, 3-1, through three innings of Game 3, before the game was halted for a no contest. Rider also took 2-of-3 from Canisius, while falling in 2-of-3 against Iona and Siena.
- Rider struggled in the first two games against Siena on April 13 in Lawrenceville, getting shut out twice, 6-0 and 8-0. The Broncs bounced back with a 3-1 victory in the series finale on April 14.
- Rider swept a pair of MAAC series against Fairfield and Mount St. Mary's, while also winning series against Manhattan and Quinnipiac, in addition to the series win against Canisius.
- Included in the sweep of Fairfield was a walk-off two-run triple from Kiersten Buchanan to turn a one-run deficit into the one-run win in Game 3 of the series on April 21.
- Stoeckel has hit .373 this season, including a .490 average and .574 on-base percentage in MAAC play.  
- Niegocki is right behind Stoeckel with .370 average, hitting .408 in league play. She's also scored 22 runs, good for second on the team, and has a team-high 18 multi-hit games.
- Kristyn Gardner has been a key contributor offensively for the Broncs, hitting .333 with 10 doubles, three home runs, 22 RBI's and 12 runs scored.
- Maddie Luedtke has also been a sparkplug for the Broncs, scoring a team-high 29 runs and driving in 20. Her six home runs also led the team.
- Buchanan and Reda-Fehsal have given the Broncs a lift in their freshman campaigns. Buchanan has hit .328 with 10 doubles, 15 runs scored and 16 RBI's as the team's shortstop, while Reda-Fehsal has hit .287 with 10 doubles, a triple, five home runs, 17 runs scored and a team-high 28 RBI's.
- Niegocki also leads the Rider pitching staff with a 1.89 ERA, including an 0.83 ERA in eight league appearances (six starts). Anna-Marie Groskritz has won a team-high eight games, posting a 3.03 ERA with a team-high 73 strikeouts in 97.0 innings pitched. Her ERA shrunk to 1.70 in league contests. Jadeyn Merrill (3.32 ERA), Kathryn Schmierer (3.43 ERA) and Fallyn Stoeckel (4.01 ERA) give the Broncs considerable pitching depth, with Niegocki, Groskritz, Schmierer and Stoeckel also pitching at least 59.1 innings.
- 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.
- 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.
- 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.