Softball Drops Rematch with Northern Illinois

Saturday, February 18

Athens, Ohio

10:00 AM

Rutgers University

0-3

Northern Illinois

2-1

Rutgers

Northern Illinois

Feb 18 | Softball

Box Score

Feb. 18, 2017

ATHENS, OHIO - The Rutgers softball team dropped its rematch with Northern Illinois by a score of 6-2 on Saturday afternoon at the Ohio Softball Field.

Although the Scarlet Knights (0-3) carried a 2-1 lead into the sixth inning, NIU (2-1) used a five-run inning in the bottom of the frame to reclaim the lead for good.

Freshman Cambria Keefer suffered the loss for RU, while NIU's Tara Thacker earned the win.

Junior Sierra Maddox registered her first home run of the season, while senior Carly Todd and freshman Nicole Bowman each added a double in the loss.

NIU was led by Jessica Rio and Sam Schmidt with two hits each. Abby Howlett added a hit and three RBIs in the game.

After Todd notched a double, Bowman registered a two-out double of her own to send the run in for an early 1-0 RU lead in the top of the first. Senior righthander Shayla Sweeney backed up the offense with a 1-2-3 inning, including snagging a line drive herself in the circle.

Although the RU bats fell silent, Sweeney held strong retiring six of the next eight batters at the plate to keep the Scarlet Knights edge at 1-0 at the end of three innings.

NIU plated its first run of the game in the bottom of the first on a solo home run from Kayti Grable. However, a diving catch for Todd in the outfield would record the third out to escape the frame with the score tied, 1-1.

Leading off the fifth inning, Maddox would knock a home run over the left field fence to return the lead to RU, 2-1. In the bottom half of the frame, Keefer entered in relief, posting a 1-2-3 inning to hold the Scarlet Knight advantage intact.

After a scoreless frame for RU, NIU went on to add five runs on four hits in the bottom of the sixth. An RBI single for Rio followed by a three-RBI double for Howlett would put NIU in the lead. Sweeney would return to the circle. Although an additional run would cross, the righthander registered back-to-back strikeouts to close the inning with a 6-2 margin.

The Scarlet Knight bats once again fell silent in the top of the seventh for the game's final score.

UP NEXT
Due to no lighting at the field and delay in game starts, Rutgers second game of the day versus Ohio originally slated for 3 p.m. was cancelled. The Scarlet Knights will face Ohio in a single game on Sunday at 11 a.m. to close the weekend.

KNIGHT NOTES
- Sierra Maddox posted her first home run of the season, marking the 15th long ball of her career.
- Nicole Bowman added the first double of her collegiate career.
- Carly Todd and Nicole Bowman are each on a three-game hitting streak to start the season.

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