College Softball
George Washington University 10, Rider University 4
Rider University 2, Bucknell University 0

ORLANDO, FL—The Broncs split two at the Spring Rebel Games Sunday.

Against Bucknell, senior Heather Beintema (La Mesa, Calif./Grossmont) pitched a complete game two-hitter, recording 12 strikeouts with no walks to lead Rider (3-4) to the win.

“Today, our bats were really good but our defense needs to step up,” said Beintema who now has 50 career wins at Rider.   “We are going to be competitive this year.  I feel really good about today.   I was really nervous coming off last year’s injury and apprehensive about how the season would be but I feel very good about how everything has started and it’s been good for me mentally and physically.”  The double-digit strikeout game was the 10th of Beintema’s career.

The Broncs scored twice in the fifth inning, breaking a 0-0 tie.  Freshman Katy Mills (Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier) hit an RBI single, scoring junior Nichole Mears (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) for the Broncs first run and sophomore Aimee Schiller (Moreno Valley, Calif./Moreno Valley) hit a sacrifice fly to score Desiree Harbaugh (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) who had doubled to give Rider a 2-0 lead.

Against GW, senior Jamie Farley (Clifton) hit a two-run home run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 7-4. Farley also doubled and scored on an RBI single by junior Nichole Mears (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) in the fourth inning to get Rider on the board. Mears had two hits and Farley also singled against GW.

Senior Jen Cullen (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Immaculata) had three of Rider’s 11 hits in the first game.

“Heather threw well and Jill [Carrabus] called a good game,” said head coach Tricia Carroll.  “Bucknell is a good team and they played well.  Heather looked composed and confident.  She pitched well the last two weeks of 2005 after coming back from injury and she’s a senior this year.  She knows what she has to do and this is her last year to get that done.”

Of concern to the head coach is the 19 errors in the first seven games, including eight in two games on Sunday.  “Because our pitching isn’t always going to strike everyone out, we have to start catching the ball and playing better defense.  There is no excuse for the way our defense has played this season.  We have a veteran team and the defensive effort needs to step up,” said Carroll.

Rider is off on Monday and plays Wagner and Army on Tuesday.

-RU-