RIVERDALE, NY – The Rider University softball team scored eight runs in the top of the first inning, including a Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) grand slam, en route to a 9-0 win Saturday and a three-game series sweep at Manhattan. With the win, the Broncs (22-32, 15-10 MAAC) clinched the No. 6 seed in next week's MAAC Championships, while the Jaspers end their season at 10-35 (7-19 MAAC).

After a one-out error, the Broncs loaded the bases on a Kristyn Gardner (Perryville, MD/Perryville) single and an Abby Cruz (Corona, CA/Santiago) walk, before Aspen Wheeler (Lampasas, TX/Lampasas) singled home the Broncs' first run. A wild pitch plated Gardner with the second run, before Kendall Reda-Fehsal (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) walked to reload the bases. The third run came home on an Olivia Burroughs (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) single. Kiersten Buchanan (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs) was hit by a pitch to plate a fourth, before Stoeckel delivered a two-out grand slam, putting Rider on top, 8-0.

Two walks, a single and a run-scoring fielder's choice put the Broncs on top, 9-0, in the fourth. Broncs starting pitcher Kathryn Schmierer (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) did the rest, shutting out the Jaspers on one hit and one walk over the full 5.0 innings pitched.  

Notes
- Schmierer pitched the complete-game shutout, limiting Manhattan to just one hit and one walk, while striking out three over 5.0 innings.   
- The Broncs entered the day needing a win and a Canisius loss to move up to the No. 5 seed at MAAC Championships. Rider did its part, but Canisius cancelled its game due to rain, locking in the No. 5 seed for the Griffs.
- Rider will face seventh-seeded Quinnipiac in a single-elimination, opening-round game on Tuesday at 10 a.m. from Poughkeepsie.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Gardner went 3-for-3 with a run scored.
- Stoeckel hit a grand slam, walked, drove in four and scored twice.
- Wheeler, Buchanan and Burroughs each singled, drove in a run and scored another.
- Shelby Dyer (Clarksboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) walked and scored a run.
- Cruz walked, drove in a run and scored another.
- Reda-Fehsal walked and scored a run.
- Asiah Bell (Tucson, AZ/Canyon Del Oro [Central Ariz. Coll.]) added a single.

Up Next
The sixth-seeded Broncs open MAAC Championship play Tuesday at 10 a.m. in Poughkeepsie, NY, in a single-elimination game against seventh-seeded Quinnipiac.