PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 23, 2019) – Rutgers softball (24-20, 8-9) swept a Big Ten doubleheader on Tuesday against Maryland (20-25, 4-13), coming from behind in both games for a 4-1 win in Game 1 and erasing a 6-0 deficit for a 7-6, extra-inning victory in the second game on freshman catcher Katie Wingert's walk-off home run.
 
The Scarlet Knights have won seven of their last eight Big Ten contests, and now sit in sixth place with six regular season conference games remaining at Indiana (6-11) and at home against Michigan State (3-12).

BALLGAME!
WINGERT WALKOFF!
IN EXTRA INNINGS!

Katie Wingert hits her 15th home run of the season off the FAIR POLE. #RUSB scores SEVEN unanswered to SWEEP the Big Ten series over Maryland! pic.twitter.com/bVwzgSlUwb

— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) April 23, 2019

RUSS' 1^st COLLEGIATE HIT SPARKS LATE RALLY

 
QUICK PITCH

• Down 1-0 and without a hit through four innings, Rutgers rallied in the fifth and sixth innings, led by freshman Penelope Russ. The rookie, in her fourth career plate appearance in the fifth, lined her first collegiate hit to right-center field to tie the game at 1-1 before freshman Aleah Marra smacked a go-ahead double and junior Nicole Bowman's 100^th collegiate hit went down as a two-run single for the 4-1 lead in the sixth. Freshman pitcher Corah Price improved to 13-7 on the year without allowing an earned run and striking out six over seven, five-hit innings.

THE RUNDOWN

• Maryland took its 1-0 lead in the top of the third on an RBI single after a Rutgers error allowed a runner to advance into scoring position.
• Junior right fielder Anyssa Iliopoulos ended Maryland's Sydney Golden's perfect game bid, drawing a walk to lead off the fifth. Following sophomore Erin Collins' single and a few fielder's choice outs, Russ came to the plate with two down as the pinch hitter. Russ worked a count in her favor before ripping a 2-1 pitch into the gap for college hit No. 1 and a tie game.
• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes ended a rare three-game hitless streak at the perfect time, leading off the sixth with a single and a stolen base. Marra promptly sent her home with her 10^th double of the year, scoring the eventual winning run.
• With the bases loaded and one out, Bowman recorded her 100^th collegiate hit with a single down the left field line, plating two for the 4-1 final score.
• After a two-out walk in the top of the fifth, Price retired seven Terrapins in a row to win the game.

WINGERT WALK-OFF CAPS WILD COMEBACK

 
QUICK PITCH

• Again without a hit through four innings, Rutgers ended up scoring seven unanswered runs in the fifth inning onward into extra frames. Hughes and Collins provided the come-from-behind offense, while senior pitcher Whitney Jones won the game in relief with a lockdown final four innings in which she retired nine Terrapins in a row. Tied at 6-6 in the bottom of the eighth, Wingert ended the game with one swing.

STANDOUT STATS

• Wingert was 2-for-4 with her 15^th homer of the season.
• Hughes and Collins provided two RBIs apiece, while Collins scored the game-tying run in the bottom of the sixth from second base on a mishandled ball in the infield.
• Russ had her second two-out, pinch-hit single of the day in the fifth inning of Game 2, loading the bases for Hughes' ensuing two-run single to put Rutgers on the board.

THE RUNDOWN

• It was all Terrapins early as they got a run in each the first two innings and starter Victoria Galvan held the Scarlet Knights hitless through four innings. In the top of the fifth, Maryland took its 6-0 lead on a grand slam.
• Sophomore third baseman Myah Moy recorded Rutgers' first hit with two outs in the fifth and scored the first run on Hughes' two-run single.
• The Terps' lead was cut to 6-3 before the fifth was through on a passed ball, scoring senior Adriana Burcar, who reentered the game to run for Russ.
• After surrendering the grand slam and a double, Jones locked in and began a run of nine straight batters retired in a row.
• Meanwhile, Wingert started the sixth-inning rally with a leadoff single. Pinch-running and advancing for Wingert, junior Cambria Keefer executed a heads-up hustle slide back into third base during an attempt to retire the lead runner on Bowman's fielder's choice grounder. In the very next at-bat, Collins sent Keefer and Bowman home on a two-run single, taking second base in the process and cutting the deficit to 6-5.
• Moy followed with a grounder to shortstop, which was mishandled and ricocheted into the outfield grass. Collins hustled throughout, scoring the game-tying run from second base during the play.
• After Jones worked around a two-out single in the first extra frame, Wingert led off the home half and pulled a 2-2 pitch down the left field line and off the base of the foul pole for the walk-off home run and the doubleheader sweep.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Wingert's walk-off homer was Rutgers' first since Rebecca Hall's on May 3, 2015 against Wisconsin.
• Rutgers improves to 3-0 in extra-inning games this season.
• Rutgers improves to 7-5 all-time against Maryland, and 7-3 as Big Ten opponents.
• The Scarlet Knights move to 15-1 on the year when scoring six or more runs, and win just their second game in 14 tries when an opponent scores six-plus.
• With 24 victories in her debut season, head coach Kristen Butler becomes the winningest first-year head coach in Rutgers softball history. Pat Willis had 22 wins in 1980 and Jay Nelson had 20 wins in 2007.

UP NEXT
Rutgers plays its final road games of the 2019 regular season at Indiana April 26-28. Friday's contest at 6 p.m. will be broadcast live on Big Ten Network.
 
 
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