March 17, 2007 - Vermont 9 Rider 4 / Rider 1 Central Connecticut State 0
March 17, 2007
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
College Softball
University of Vermont 9, Rider University 4
Rider University 1, Central Connecticut State University 0
ORLANDO, FLA—The Broncs split two games on the final day at the Rebel Spring games in Florida. “The second game showed just how important it is going to be for us to be mentally focused this year,” said head coach Tricia Carroll. “We are going to struggle a little to put up runs so we are going to have to be extra sharp mentally to keep the opposition off the board.”
Rider (4-11) won the afternoon game against CCSU 1-0 with a one-out RBI single in the bottom of the seventh after dropping the opener against Vermont 9-4.
Locked in a scoreless tie in the bottom of the seventh against CCSU, senior Desiree Harbaugh (Frederick, Md./Gov. Thomas Johnson) led off with a walk and with one-out, junior pinch hitter Jessica Holland (Hatboro, Pa./Hatboro-Horsham) doubled putting runners at second and third. After an intentional walk to senior Ashley Boulden (Brooklawn, N.J./Gloucester), freshman Megan Kozlowski (Richboro, Pa./Council Rock-North) hit an RBI single to end the game. Kozlowski and Harbaugh each had two hits in the game.
“Megan [Kozlowski] came up confident in a very tough spot,” Carroll said. “She just relaxed and hit the ball and wasn’t trying to do too much. She wasn’t trying to do anything that she hasn’t done before and even being a freshman, she stepped up and got the winning hit.”
“I struggled a little in the first game against Vermont,” said Kozlowski. “But in the second game, I just worked on putting the ball in play and taking each at-bat for what it was and I tried not thinking about the overall game situation and that helped. I was able to move runners up and when I had the opportunity, I was able to get the winning run in. My teammates were key getting on base to setup my last at-bat.”
The rally made a winner of sophomore Lauren Brunner (Chino, Calif./Chino), who threw a complete game three-hitter, recording four strikeouts.
“Lauren [Brunner] pitched well,” Carroll said. “She is the type of pitcher that isn’t going to strike out 15 batters. When she is on, the hitters don’t get solid contact off her and her off speed pitches were working and the defense did the job behind her. It was a kind of bend but don’t break type of game.”
“It felt good winning a close game,” said Brunner. “I’m more of a ground ball pitcher and I rely on the defense to do the job behind me. They made the plays and because of that, we won the game.”
In the first game, Vermont took advantage of a Rider error to score four unearned runs.
The Catamounts jumped out to a 5-0 lead before the Broncs rallied for four runs in the sixth inning, keyed by a two-run error and a two-run double by freshman Candice Harris (Las Vegas, Nev./Coronado). Harris had three hits in the game and four hits on the day with junior Tiffany Day-Neutill (Agoura Hills, Calif./Oaks Christian) also adding three hits in the game including a double.
Vermont scored four in the bottom of the sixth inning for the final score.
Rider, which went 3-7 during the trip south, opens the 2007 home schedule on Saturday, March 24, hosting Villanova as part of the Rider Invitational. Rider will then host Lafayette and Monmouth as part of the tournament on Sunday, March 25.
“We struggled a bit early in the trip,” Brunner added. “But as a team, as the week went on, we learned a lot about each other and toward the end of the trip, we played better and we learned some of the areas we should focus on in order to have a successful season.”
-RU-
