MIAMI, Fla. (Feb. 22, 2019) – Rutgers softball (5-7) won one and lost one to begin play at the FIU Panther Invitational in Miami on Friday, topping Monmouth, 2-1, before falling to host Florida International, 6-1, in the nightcap.
PRICE GROUNDS HAWKS WITH THREE-HITTER
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Freshman starting pitcher
Corah Price didn't allow a hit until two outs in the sixth inning, and posted her second complete game with just three hits and a walk. Monmouth's one run was a solo homer, but Price preserved the win in the seventh with Rutgers clinging to a one-run lead, stamping the performance with her career-high seventh strikeout of the game.
STANDOUT STATS
- Senior shortstop Jess Hughes, freshman second baseman Aleah Marra and freshman catcher Katie Wingert all had two-hit games, with Hughes and Marra getting a double apiece.
- Junior left fielder Anyssa Iliopoulos added to her team-high RBI total with a run-scoring single.
THE RUNDOWN
- All of Rutgers' offense came with two outs in the bottom of the third inning. Hughes hustled out a double that dropped in no-man's land in shallow left-center, then trotted home on Marra's RBI double, which was hit high in the sky and got lost in the midday Miami sun.
- Iliopoulos smacked a no-doubt single for Rutgers third consecutive hit to chase Marra home for the 2-0 lead.
- With Price just four outs away from a no-hitter, Monmouth cut the deficit in half with two outs in the sixth with a solo home to left field. The Hawks followed with a double, but Price coaxed a groundout to keep the lead intact.
KNIGHT NOTES
- Rutgers has scored first in four out of its five wins.
- Hughes' recorded her team-leading fifth multi-hit game of the year.
PANTHERS' SIX-RUN SECOND INNING HOLDS UP
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FIU scored six runs on six hits in the bottom of the second, which is all the offense the Panthers would need. Rutgers managed just two hits as junior pitcher
Cambria Keefer kept FIU in check with an effective relief outing.
STANDOUT STATS
- Keefer hurled 4.1 innings of scoreless softball with just two hits and a walk allowed to keep Rutgers in the game.
- Hughes had Rutgers' only two hits of the contest, going 2-for-4 with the lone run scored.
THE RUNDOWN
- The Panthers took their commanding lead in the bottom of the second inning on six hits, including a two-run home run.
- Rutgers got on the board in the top of the sixth on a deep Nicole Bowman sacrifice fly to dead center, scoring Hughes from third after she singled to lead off the frame.
UP NEXT
The FIU Panther Invitational continues on Saturday, Feb. 23 against Columbia at 4 p.m. and a rematch against FIU at 6:30 p.m.
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