LAWRENCEVILLE, NJ – The Rider University softball team bounced back Tuesday afternoon, sweeping a doubleheader over Saint Peter's, winning game one 13-0 in five innings, before taking game two, 3-0. The Broncs moved to 18-16 on the season and 9-6 in MAAC play, while the Peacocks are now 5-25 overall and 2-14 in league games.
 
The Broncs took control of game one early. Abby Cruz (Corona, CA/Santiago) led off the bottom of the second with a single. Then Gabi Rodriguez (Chula Vista, CA/Olympian) and Emma Morgan (Mechanicsburg, PA/Cumberland Valley) drew one-out walks to load the bases. Kiersten Buchanan (Holly Springs, NC/Holly Springs) drove in the game's first run with a single to left, bringing Melissa Purcella (Albuquerque, NM/Albuquerque Academy) to the plate. Down in the count, 1-2, the freshman turned on a pitch and drove it over the fence in left for a grand slam to extend the Rider lead to 5-0. Keegan St. Cyr (Hopkinton, NH/Hopkinton) then added a two-out triple and was promptly brought home by a two-run line-drive home run off the bat of Maddie Luedtke (Gibbstown, NJ/Gloucester County Institute of Technology).
 
Rider added on in the third. Kendall Reda-Fehsal (Succasunna, NJ/Roxbury) and Rodriguez, opened the inning with back-to-back singles, then with two away, Purcella drew a walk to load the bases. Aspen Wheeler (Lampasas, TX/Lampasas) delivered a two-run single and St. Cyr and Luedtke each added RBI singles that pushed the lead to 11-0. A Peacock error allowed another pair of runs to score giving Rider a 13-0 lead, and the defense took over to give Rider the run-rule victory.
 
In game two, the Broncs jumped out to the early lead again. St. Cyr hit a one-out double in the top of the first and Luedtke hit a single down the right field line to plate the opening run of the contest.
 
The score remained 1-0 into the fifth when St. Cyr again hit a one-out double. This time it was Cruz, who hit the single to drive in St. Cyr and extend the lead to 2-0. Rider tacked on an insurance run in the sixth, when after Fallyn Stoeckel (Nutley, NJ/Nutley) and Buchanan drew one-out walks, Rider took advantage of a pair of Peacock errors to score Stoeckel and produce the final score.
 
Quotes & Notes
"Last time out, we weren't really making any adjustments offensively, but today we came out swinging the bats, and were ready to go. Melissa's finally starting to settle in. As a freshman, there's a lot of mental chatter and she's really started to settle herself down, and it's really cool to see the results. Our pitchers did a great job spinning the ball today and getting weak contact, and allowing the defense to make plays behind them." – Head Coach Davon Ortega
 
"I saw they were looking to pitch me inside, I got my pitch and took advantage of it. Being at the bottom of the lineup, I get a chance to see what the pitchers are trying to do, and I can take that information with me into my at bats. We struggled a bit at Siena, so we came out today attacking. Sometimes the first pitch you see is the best pitch you're going to get, and we didn't let those go past us today." – Freshman infielder Melissa Purcella
 
- Rodriguez started game one in the circle, throwing all five innings, allowing no runs on two hitsto earn the win. The sophomore retired the final 13 batters she faced in the game.
- Stoeckel started game two in the circle, tossing all seven innings, allowing no runs on five hits to take the win. She struck out three, and needed just 65 pitches to navigate the Peacock lineup.
- Purcella's home run is the first of her career.
- Luedtke's home run gives her eight on the season, tying her for the MAAC lead, and 15 in her career.
 
Broncs By The Numbers
- St. Cyr led the Broncs with four hits, including three extra-base hits across the pair of games.
- Cruz and Luedtke each finished with three hits on the day.
- Reda-Fehsal had a pair of hits across the doubleheader.
- Wheeler, Rodriguez, Stoeckel, Buchanan, and Purcella each had a hit in game one when all nine places in the order recorded at least one hit.
 
Up Next
The Broncs are back in action Saturday for a key conference series at Marist, beginning with a double header with first pitch scheduled for noon.