PISCATAWAY, N.J. (May 1, 2019) – Rutgers softball (26-22) literally and metaphorically gave 100 percent in a come-from-behind, extra-inning, 7-5, walk-off victory over LIU Brooklyn (29-16) on Wednesday at the RU Softball Complex in a seesaw game that saw all 18 rostered Scarlet Knights contribute to the victory.
 
QUICK PITCH

• The Scarlet Knights outlasted the Blackbirds in a back-and-forth battle that had Rutgers up 3-0, then LIU up 5-3 before senior shortstop Jess Hughes tied the game with a two-run single in the bottom of the seventh to force extra innings. After two scoreless extra innings in relief by freshman pitcher Corah Price, freshman catcher Katie Wingert hit a two-run walk-off home run in the bottom of the ninth – her second game-ending homer in as many home games in Piscataway.

SOUND OFF

• Head coach Kristen Butler: "We knew going into the game that LIU is tough. They're a playoff team. We wanted to come at them with our best. We wanted to get everyone at-bats while playing to win. It was one of our signature wins this season because every single person got in the game. The message to the team in the seventh was getting to the top of order, so someone has to get on. That's exactly what Christine Malito and Allie Yoffee did, and they were the key at-bats in this one."

STANDOUT STATS

• Malito drew a pinch-hit, leadoff walk after a long at-bat to open the seventh inning, followed by Yoffee's single off the second base bag to set the table for sophomore Erin Collins' sacrifice bunt and Hughes' ensuing game-tying heroics.
• Hughes and Wingert each had three hits. Hughes was 3-for-4 with three runs and the two clutch RBIs. Wingert hit 3-for-5 with a double, the walk-off homer, two runs and the two game-ending RBIs.
• Junior first baseman Nicole Bowman went 2-for-4 with a pair of ribbies.
• All three pitchers for Rutgers were effective, with the senior starter Whitney Jones falling victim to three Rutgers errors. She allowed just one earned run, but five Blackbirds crossed the plate as she allowed nine hits, two walks, and struck out two over 5.2 innings of work.
• Junior pitcher Cambria Keefer got out of a jam in the sixth, then struck out the side in the seventh for a scoreless 1.1 frames with one hit allowed.
• Price earned the win in the circle with two innings of scoreless, one-hit softball. She moves to 15-8 on the year.

THE RUNDOWN

• Hughes manufactured the opening run with speed in the bottom of the first, singling and stealing second. Once moved over by Wingert's grounder, junior Anyssa Iliopoulos picked up an RBI infield single down the third base line off the fielder's glove on a tough play.
• Bowman blasted a one-out, two-run double to the left-center field gap to plate a paid in the third for the 3-0 lead.
• The Blackbirds benefitted from Rutgers defensive miscues in the fourth, when an error that should have ended a scoreless inning allowed LIU to continue and score two runs.
• LIU added two more unearned runs in the fifth, capped by a two-run single.
• After back-to-back doubles and another run for a 5-3 LIU lead, Keefer entered the circle with a runner in scoring position before getting a groundout to end the sixth inning.
• Malito drew a pinch-hit, leadoff walk after a long at-bat to open the seventh inning, followed by Yoffee's single off the second base bag to set the table for sophomore Erin Collins' sacrifice bunt and Hughes' ensuing game-tying heroics.
• Wingert's two-out double in the bottom of the seventh was three feet from ending the game, bouncing off the center field wall.
• Sophomore third baseman Myah Moy came up with a clutch hit in the bottom of the eighth – a looping single to shallow right field to chase freshman Penelope Russ, who reached on an infield single with one out, toward the plate. Russ' slide appeared to beat the tag in a bang-bang play, but she was called out to end the inning.
• Following Price's 1-2-3 top of the ninth, Hughes beat out a one-out infield single toward second base, then trotted home on Wingert's walk-off.

KNIGHT NOTES

• All 18 rostered Scarlet Knights appeared in the box score for the first time in 2019.
• Rutgers softball has clinched its first winning season since going 29-20 in 2015.
• Rutgers improves to 4-0 in extra innings this season.
• The Scarlet Knights win for the third time this season when trailing after six innings.
• Price has won 15 games as a pitcher, the most for a Rutgers hurler since Anyssa Landrith's 15 in 2015.
• Rutgers is now 10-3 this season when Wingert hits a home run.
• Wingert moves into seventh place in Rutgers history with 42 RBIs in a single season.

UP NEXT
Rutgers concludes the 2019 regular season with a three-game Big Ten series at home against Michigan State from Friday through Sunday, May 3-5. Friday's game is set for a 3 p.m. first pitch.
 
 
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