BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (May 9, 2019) – No. 6 seeded Rutgers softball (28-24) bowed out of the Big Ten Tournament in the first round after a skintight 4-3 loss to No. 11 Purdue (31-26) in a game that started at 11 p.m. and went into the early hours of Friday morning at Indiana's Andy Mohr Field.
 
The originally-scheduled 7 p.m. game, the fourth of the day at Andy Mohr Field, was delayed twice by inclement weather in Bloomington. An early shower pushed the whole day's slate back about 90 minutes, then a strong downpour caused the nightcap to begin at the latest time allowed by Big Ten rules – 10:59 p.m.
 
QUICK PITCH

• Purdue bookended the scoring with a pair of two-run frames in the first and fifth, sandwiching Rutgers' three-run bottom of the third highlighted by RBIs from Nicole Bowman, Penelope Russ and Aleah Marra.

STANDOUT STATS

• Freshmen Russ and Marra had multiple hits in the postseason game, each going 2-for-3 with an RBI.
• Bowman scored a run and knocked another in during a 1-for-4 night at the plate.
• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes and freshman catcher Katie Wingert added hits for the Scarlet Knights.

B3 | IN THE LEAD! Marra smokes the RBI single and #RUSB takes a 3-2 advantage with three runs in the third. pic.twitter.com/svaWDjymLy

— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) May 10, 2019

THE RUNDOWN

• The Boildermakers struck first in a controversial first inning after a baserunner appeared to miss first base while running out a leadoff double. The play was appealed at the bag by Rutgers, but was not granted. The run came around to score in the very next at-bat on an RBI single, then Purdue took the early 2-0 lead on a wild pitch.
• Rutgers defense stopped the bleeding in the first as sophomore third baseman Myah Moy dove forward for a catch of a popup, then caught the inning-ending double play on a flyout to senior left fielder Adriana Burcar.
• Freshman starting pitcher Corah Price settled down, sitting down nine Boilermakers in a row from the second through fourth innings with two strikeouts on the way.
• Meanwhile, the Scarlet Knight bats handed Price the lead in the bottom of the third. Hughes and Wingert strung together one-out singles and junior Anyssa Iliopoulos walked to set up Bowman's RBI fielder's choice. Russ then ripped an RBI single off the pitcher's glove, and Marra smoked an RBI base hit to right-center to give Rutgers a 3-2 lead.
• Purdue retook the lead in the fifth on three hits, including a two-out, two-run double.
• Rutgers went hitless in the sixth and seventh, but got the tying run in scoring position in the seventh on a walk and a hit by pitch before Purdue escaped and advanced to Friday's quarterfinals.

M1 | Purdue jumps out to a 2-0 lead, but Myah Moy keeps it there with this gem, then steps on third for the double play started by Burcar in left.

Purdue 2, RU 0 pic.twitter.com/ZK7rXiI9gN

— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) May 10, 2019

KNIGHT NOTES

• Playing in its first Big Ten Tournament since 2016, Rutgers drops to 0-3 in the tournament since making the conference postseason for the first time in 2015.
• The Scarlet Knights fall to 6-8 in one-run games this season.
• Marra posted her ninth multi-hit game of her freshman season, while Russ got her second in the seventh start of her collegiate career.
• Hughes' hit was the 240^th of her career, while scoring run No. 202.

UP NEXT
Rutgers will await a selection to the 2019 National Invitational Softball Championship, which will announce selections on May 12 following the NCAA selection show. Regionals take place May 16-18 at host school sites (Rutgers will not host), followed by a championship round May 24-26 in Fort Collins, Colorado.
 
 
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