POUGHKEEPSIE, NY – Anna Marie-Groskritz (Granby, CT/Granby Memorial) pitched her seventh complete-game shutout of the season and Shelby Dyer (Clarksboro, NJ/Kingsway Regional) capped a two-out rally in the bottom of the fifth with an RBI single as the No. 6 Rider University softball team defeated seventh-seeded Quinnipiac, 1-0, in the opening round of the 2025 MAAC Softball Championships. The Broncs (23-32) move on to face third-seeded Iona today at 2 p.m., while Quinnipiac ends its season at 19-27.   

A pitchers' duel throughout, Groskritz allowed a single to lead off the game and limited the Bobcats to one walk in both the second and fifth innings over the next six and two thirds innings. The only other hit she allowed was a pop to the Bermuda triangle in right, dropping between two fielders with two out in the top of the seventh.  

Meanwhile, Bobcats pitcher Sydney Horan was also very impressive, limiting Rider to two walks and a hit-by-pitch through four and two thirds innings, including nine in a row retired before Shea Johnson (Carlsbad, CA/Cathedral Catholic) flared a single to left-center to break up Horan's no-hit bid. Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ) and Dyer followed with consecutive singles through the left side, with Johnson aggressively being sent home by Head Coach Davon Ortega, scoring just ahead of the tag at the plate for the winning run.     

Quotes & Notes
(On what was working for Groskritz) "Everything. She came out with a different mindset today. She said, 'I'm not going out. This is it. I'm going as far as I possibly can.' Everything was working for her."

(On coming back after yesterday's rainout) "I think it just gave us more fuel. It gave us more time to kind of think about it, process it and say, 'we're not going home at nine in the morning. That's not how we're ending this thing.'" – Rider Head Coach Davon Ortega

"My curveball was really on today and my defense was really stellar behind me."

"It's really great because we've never been able to get past this first game in quite some time. It's really nice to be able to see the team come together and put together a win for us." – Rider Graduate Student Pitcher Anna-Marie Groskritz

- Groskritz pitched a complete-game, two-hit shutout, allowing just four Bobcats to reach on the two hits and two walks. She struck out four.    
- The win is the Broncs' first in the MAAC Championships since taking Game 1 of a three-game series at Canisius in 2021. Groskritz also pitched a complete game without allowing an earned run in that contest.
- The win is the 300^th of Davon Ortega's Head Coaching career, including 162 at Holy Family and 138 at Rider.

Broncs by the Numbers
- Dyer reached twice on an RBI single and a walk.
- Johnson singled and scored a run.
- Stoeckel, Abby Cruz (Corona, CA/Santiago) and Kiersten Buchanan also added one single each.
- Olivia Burroughs (Escondido, CA/San Pasqual) reached twice on a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
- Buchanan reached for a second time on a hit-by-pitch.

Up Next
The Broncs move on to face third-seeded Iona today at 2 p.m. in the double-elimination portion of the tournament from Poughkeepsie.