Manhattan University Athletics

Riverdale, NY - Manhattan softball will host Monmouth and Rider this weekend in two MAAC doubleheaders. The Hawks will visit Gaelic Park Saturday, April 13, with first pitch set for 11:00 am. On Sunday, the Jaspers and Broncs will face each starting at noon. 

Game Notes:

MAAC Standings
Among the three teams, Monmouth (22-12, 7-1 MAAC) sits at the top of the standings, the team's one MAAC loss coming from Rider (5-29, 2-4 MAAC) in a 5-2 decision on April 7 in Lawrenceville, NJ. The Broncs sit just above Manhattan (12-20, 1-5 MAAC) in ninth place in the MAAC standings. 

Previous Meetings
Manhattan last faced Monmouth in the 2018 MAAC Championship, losing to the #1 seed Hawks 3-1. The Jaspers last faced the Broncs in Lawrenceville on April 13 of last year, losing both bouts of the MAAC doubleheader.

NCAA Rankings
Manhattan's Lauren Pitney (Ansonia, CT / St. Joseph's) ranks ninth in the nation for on-base percentage so far this season (.565). She also ranks sixth in DI for walks per game at 0.97. Manhattan is the MAAC's best at turning double plays, ranking 35th in the country at 0.47 per contest. The team also ranks 43rd in DI for doubles per game, nabbing more than one per contest (1.53).

MAAC Rankings
The Jaspers hold the MAAC's second-best team batting average, hitting .275 as a team this year. Manhattan also ranks second in scoring (4.19), slugging percentage (.393) and triples per game (.19). 

About the Hawks
Monmouth's offense is led by a trio of Kayla Rosado, Lindsey Baron and Sam Tomasetti, who all are batting over .300 this season. From the pitcher's circle Alyssa Irons leads the MAAC with seven shutouts so far this season and 17 wins. As a team, Monmouth has the fourth-best batting average in the conference (.259) and the third best slugging percentage (.386). 

About the Broncs
Batting just over .200 as a team, Rider ranks ninth in the MAAC in batting average and has scored just 76 runs over 34 games this season. Melanie Wilkinson leads the Broncs with 10 RBI this season. From the pitcher's circle, freshman Brooke Trujillo, who earned Rider's win over Monmouth last week, has the team's best ERA at 6.72. She holds opponents to a batting average of .296 and has 31 strikeouts this season.