PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 20, 2018) – Rutgers softball dropped the opener of a three-game set with Northwestern by a score of 15-1 in five innings on Friday afternoon at the RU Softball Complex.
 
The Scarlet Knights (17-24, 2-10 B1G) could not overcome four home runs and seven overall extra base hits by the torrid lineup from Northwestern (27-13, 9-5).
 
Sophomore Anyssa Iliopoulos hit her third home run of the season to put Rutgers on the board in the bottom of the fifth. As the 2-2 pitch landed over the left field fence, it marked Iliopoulos' second pinch-hit home run of the season and ups her average in pinch-hit situations to .333 (3-of-9).
 
Junior shortstop Jess Hughes led off the bottom of the first for the Scarlet Knights with a base hit and added a walk in the third to increase her slash line in Big Ten contests to .419/.452/.591.
 
Senior catcher Sierra Maddox, sophomore left fielder Hailey Hoklotubbe and freshman second baseman Myah Moy added base hits for Rutgers. For Hoklotubbe, it was her career-long 11^th straight game reaching base safely, as she is hitting .300 over that span with a .382 on-base percentage.
 
Rutgers and the Wildcats pick up the series on Saturday, April 21 with Game 2 slated for 1 p.m. on Letterwinners Day at the RU Baseball and Softball Complexes.
 
 
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