**Schedule Update** Game 2 at Indiana on Saturday has been moved up an hour to a 1 p.m. start.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (April 26, 2019) – Rutgers softball (24-21, 8-10) dropped the Big Ten series opener at Indiana (32-18, 7-11) by a 9-1 tally in five innings on Friday evening at Andy Mohr Field.
 
QUICK PITCH

• Junior first baseman Nicole Bowman provided the early offense with a two-out RBI single in the first inning, but it was all Indiana from there with a pair of four-run innings in the third and fourth proving to be all the distance the Hoosiers would need.

STANDOUT STATS

• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes went 1-for-2 with a walk.
• Bowman knocked in Rutgers' lone run during a 1-for-2 day.
• Freshman catcher Katie Wingert, tied atop the Big Ten with 15 home runs, was 0-for-1 with a pair of walks and nearly had a hit if not for an incredible diving catch by Indiana right fielder Gabbi Jenkins to end the game in the fifth.

THE RUNDOWN

• Hughes' leadoff single led to the game's first run. She was retired on a fielder's choice, but freshman Aleah Marra took her place and scored on Bowman's two-out RBI single to center field for the early 1-0 lead.
• In the home half of the opening inning, Indiana threatened with a leadoff single of its own and a quick stolen base, but freshman catcher Katie Wingert threw out a stolen base attempt at third base for the second out before senior starting pitcher Whitney Jones got the strikeout to end the frame with the slim 1-0 lead.
• Indiana tied it in the second on back-to-back doubles to start the inning, then broke out for four runs on four hits and a bases-loaded walk in the third to take a 5-1 advantage.
• The Hoosiers put the game in run-rule status with another four runs in the fourth, then closed out the game with a 1-2-3 inning in the top of the fifth, capped by Jenkins' diving catch on Wingert's flare to right field.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers scored in the first inning for the 19^th time this season, but falls to 13-6 in games scoring in the first.
• Freshman Penelope Russ got her first start of her collegiate career, batting eighth at designated player.
• Rutgers' lead in the all-time series falls to 9-8 overall and 8-5 as Big Ten opponents.

UP NEXT
The series continues with Game 2 on Saturday, April 27 at 2 p.m.
 
 
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