NEWARK, DE – Abby Cruz (Corona, CA/Santiago) collected three hits, but the Rider University softball team fell in a pair of games at Delaware, 1-0 (9 inn.) and 6-3, on Tuesday afternoon. With the losses, the Broncs fall to 6-15, while the Blue Hens improved to 17-8.

Game 1 went to extra innings scoreless with both Rider and Delaware collecting just one hit each through six innings. Cruz hit a hot shot down the left-field line for the Broncs' base hit in the fourth, while Mary Beth Cahalan singled through the left side for Delaware's hit. Anna-Marie Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) pitched around an error and two walks that loaded the bases with two out in the sixth, inducing a Cahalan pop out to end the threat. Delaware followed with a pair of hits in the seventh, but again, Groskritz was equal to the challenge, inducing a groundout to end the threat and send the game to extra innings. Finally, after eight scoreless, Delaware walked it off with a lead-off home run to center in the ninth from Ellie Talley.   

In Game 2, the Blue Hens jumped out to a 1-0 lead on a solo home run in the first. The Broncs evened the score in the second as Kristyn Gardner (Perryville, MD/Perryville) doubled with one out, moved to third on a Noelle Flail (Woolwich, NJ/Kingway Regional) sacrifice bunt on which Delaware committed an error and scored a Kiersten Buchanan (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs) squeeze bunt. Rider scored twice more in the top of the third to take a 3-1 lead. Singles from Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley), Aspen Wheeler (Lampasas, TX/Lampasas) and Cruz loaded the bases with one out, before Gardner's walk plated the go-ahead run. Flail followed with a sacrifice fly to make it a 3-1 Rider lead.

Delaware immediately began to chip away with a solo home run to lead off the bottom of the third and took the lead for good with a pair of runs in the fourth, doing their damage consecutively on a two-out triple, followed by a run-scoring triple to take a 4-3 advantage. Back-to-back RBI doubles in the fifth pushed the Blue Hens' lead to the 6-3 final score. Rider brought the tying run to the place in the top of the seventh after Asiah Bell (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro [Central Ariz. Coll.]) walked and Cruz singled. But a lineout to shortstop ended the threat and the game.

Notes
- Groskritz pitched 8.0-plus innings in Game 1, allowing one earned run on four hits, three walks and three HBP's. She struck out nine in the tough-luck loss.
- Kathryn Schmierer (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) started Game 2 in the circle, but left with a no decision. She allowed three earned runs on six hits and a walk over 4.2 innings pitched, striking out two.
- Stoeckel took the loss, allowing one earned run on two hits in 0.2 innings pitched.
- Gabi Rodriguez (Chula Vista, CA/Olympian) also made an appearance in the circle, allowing two earned runs on three hits in 0.2 innings.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Cruz had Rider's lone hit in Game 1, a single. She added a 2-for-4 effort in Game 2 to compile three hits on the day.
- Gardner doubled, walked, drove in a run and scored another in Game 2.
- Stoeckel singled, walked and scored a run in Game 2.
- Bell also reached twice in Game 2 on a single and a walk.
- Wheeler singled and scored a run in Game 2.
- Flail added a pair of productive plate appearances in Game 2 with a sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt, driving in one.
- Emma Morgan (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) and Keegan St. Cyr (Hopkinton, NH/Hopkinton) also reached on errors in Game 1. 

Up Next
The Broncs return to action Wednesday, when they travel to Seton Hall for a doubleheader. First pitch from South Orange, NJ, is scheduled for 2 p.m.