MACON, Ga. (March 18, 2018) – Rutgers softball (15-14) completed an improbable comeback in the bottom of the seventh inning and walked off with a 10-9 victory over Bucknell (8-16) after scoring six runs in the final frame in the Scarlet Knights' Bear Classic Finale at Mercer.
Behind 9-4 and down to their final three outs, RU brought 11 to the plate and scored their first seventh inning comeback victory since April 23 of last season against Penn State. Senior catcher
Sierra Maddox provided the game-winning RBI, which left a mark on her left leg as she was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded to walk off with the win.
"I'm glad to see them fight back until the end," said head coach
Jay Nelson. "It shows there's no quit in this team. We were waiting for our pitches and being patient. We also had some great hustle plays that kept us alive during that final inning."
Junior center fielder
Nicolette Anico, senior first baseman
Rebecca Hall, freshman second baseman
Myah Moy, sophomore right fielder
Nicole Bowman and sophomore left fielder
Hailey Hoklotubbe all added RBIs in the six-run seventh. Freshman pitcher
Taryn Collins, Rutgers' third pitcher of the game, earned the victory and improved to 2-0 at the Bear Classic with an ERA of 2.71 by pitching the final three innings with two runs allowed.
Hall, Moy and Anico grabbed two hits apiece, while junior shortstop
Jess Hughes went 1-for-3 with two walks to increase her hit streak to 10 straight games. Bowman drove in four runs, three of which came on one swing with her third home run of the year. Patience also played a key role as Rutgers drew 11 walks, the most in a game since 12 at Hofstra on March 23 of last season. Meanwhile, Rutgers' three hurlers didn't issue a single free pass to 34 batters faced.
After missing the first four games of the tournament due to illness, Bowman made up for lost time with a game-tying, three-run home run in the third inning, which totaled eight runs between both teams. Moy got Rutgers on the board earlier with an RBI single to score Hughes.
That four-run rally tied the game after Bucknell went ahead 4-0 in the top half of the inning, powered by the first two of five Bison home runs on Sunday. Another pair came in the top of the fifth as Bucknell went ahead 8-4 on a solo shot and a three-run job.
Rutgers threatened with the bases loaded in the sixth, but were unable to convert, and Bucknell added a ninth run in the top of the seventh with its fifth home run of the game.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers' seventh inning comeback was its first since scoring four in the final frame at Penn State last season for a 6-4 win on April 23.
- The win marked Rutgers' fourth this season when trailing after five innings of play.
- Bowman's home run was the third of the season and sixth of her career.
- Hughes now has the longest hit streak of the season at 10 straight, with Hall right behind at nine straight.
- With three hits in her last two games, Hall moved into fourth place all-time in Rutgers softball history with 197 hits.
- The last time Rutgers walked off with a victory, it was Sierra Maddox at the plate getting a hit against Michigan State on April 29 last spring. This time, her hit by pitch gave her 11 for her career, which ranks 10th all-time in school history.
UP NEXT
Rutgers begins Big Ten play at Wisconsin on March 23-25.
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