MACON, Ga. (March 17, 2018) – Rutgers softball (14-14) hit three home runs to power an 8-5 victory over Mercer (18-10) before falling to Austin Peay (15-7) by a score of 7-0 on Day 2 of Mercer's Bear Classic on Saturday.
Junior shortstop
Jess Hughes hit a leadoff home run against the Bears, followed immediately by a long ball off the bat of senior first baseman
Rebecca Hall to give Rutgers its first back-to-back jacks since
Bridget Carr and Melanie Slowinski did it against Bradley on Feb. 21, 2016. Sophomore third baseman
Anyssa Iliopoulos added a two-out, pinch hit home run in the fourth to tie the game at 3-3.
By then, freshman pitcher
Taryn Collins had taken over in the circle and gave up two runs over five relief innings to earn her second career win (2-2) with five strikeouts and zero walks. The final out of the game was recorded by junior center fielder
Nicolette Anico, who produced a Catch of the Year candidate by laying out and holding on for the 21
st out of the contest.
Hughes again led the RU offense with a 4-for-7 day with two runs and an RBI, extending her team-leading hit streak to nine straight games. Hughes, Hall and freshman second baseman
Myah Moy all hit in each game, while Hall recorded her 12
th multi-hit performance of the season with a 2-for-5 line against Mercer and kept her hitting streak alive at eight straight.
Iliopoulos' game-tying hit in the fourth gave her a 2-for-3 mark in pinch-hitting this season, and was Rutgers' third pinch-hit home run of the year.
Rutgers went ahead for good in the fifth courtesy of a four-run frame, fueled by RBI singles from senior catcher
Sierra Maddox and sophomore left fielder
Hailey Hoklotubbe, and capped by a booming RBI double to the left center field gap by junior designated player
Allie Yoffee, who earned her first start of the season.
Mercer got two back on a two-run home run in the fifth, but Collins stopped the bleeding and held the lead as Hoklotubbe notched her first multi-RBI game of the season by drawing a bases-loaded walk in the sixth to put RU ahead by the eventual final margin, 8-5.
In Game 2, the bats went quiet as Hughes, Hall, Moy and Anico accounted for Rutgers' only four hits against Austin Peay's starter Kelly Mardones. Rutgers' sophomore starter
Cambria Keefer took the loss (5-7), and Collins pitched 1.1 perfect innings to end the game.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Hughes extends her team-leading hit streak to nine straight, while Hall moves hers to eight. Both have reached base safely in nine straight.
- Rutgers hit back-to-back home runs for the first time since Bridget Carr and Melanie Slowinski did it against Bradley on Feb. 21, 2016.
- Iliopoulos' home run was Rutgers' third pinch-hit home run of the season, two of which came with two outs.
- The Scarlet Knights turned two more double plays against Mercer to give them 25 in 28 games.
- Scoring first continues to be a large factor in Rutgers games, as the Scarlet Knights improved to 12-2 when scoring first, but dropped to 2-12 when the opponent does.
- Rutgers pulls ahead 2-1 in the all-time series against Mercer, while Austin Peay evened the series at 1-1.
- RU hit three home runs in a game for the first time since April 4, 2017 against Seton Hall.
UP NEXT
Rutgers concludes the Bear Classic against Bucknell at 11 a.m. on Sunday, March 18.
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