March 17, 2006  
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

College Softball
Rider University 11, Butler University 0 (5 inn.)
Rider University 2, Binghamton University 1

ORLANDO, FLORIDA—The Broncs ended their week at the Spring Rebel Games with a sweep of Butler and Binghamton Friday. “I was glad to end the trip on a pair of games like today,” said Rider head coach Tricia Carroll.  “We played well today.”

Against Butler, Rider scored six runs in the first inning on four hits, three walks, three Butler errors and two pass balls. The biggest hit of the inning was an RBI single by sophomore Tiffany Day Neutill (Agoura Hills, Calif./Oaks Christian). Day Neutill also had an RBI double in the third inning as Rider took a 9-0 lead. “They kicked the ball around a little bit, but we took advantage of their mistakes,” said Carroll. “We weren’t doing that earlier in the season.”

Freshman pitcher Laci Landrum (Grand Praire, Texas/So. Grand Praire) earned the victory, her second. “Laci pitched great today,” Carroll said. “She had a good week. Her last two outings have been good.”

Freshman Katy Mills (Seattle, Wash./Mount Rainier) had two of Rider’s nine hits, while senior Jen Cullen (Lake Hopatcong, N.J./Immaculata) doubled.

Against Binghamton, pinch-runner Erin Murphy (Hillsborough, N.J./Hillsborough) scored on a single by sophomore Mandi Sekly (Canyon County, CA/Canyon) to break a 1-1 tie in the sixth inning. “Mandi came up with another big hit,” said Carroll.  Sekly had two of Rider’s eight hits in the second game, as did Cullen.

Junior Nichole Mears (Simi Valley, Calif./Royal) had two hits in the second game, but it was the ground ball double play she hit into that scored Rider’s first run in the sixth inning, tying the score.

Senior Heather Beintema (La Mesa, Calif./Grossmont) pitched a three-hitter, striking out five. The victory was the fourth of the season for Beintema and the 52nd of her career.

The sweep gave Rider a 5-5 record in Florida and 6-7 overall for the season.  “We made progress over the course of the week,” said Carroll.  “All in all, I’m pretty pleased with the week we had.”

Rider is off until March 25 when the Broncs host the University of Pennsylvania for a 1pm doubleheader.

-RU-