ANN ARBOR, Mich. – The No. 18 Michigan Wolverines took the first game of this weekend's series with Rutgers softball, 3-0, but it wasn't without some great defensive stops by the Scarlet Knights.

Sophomore right-hander Ashley Hitchcock helped Rutgers out of a jam in the second. With runners in scoring position, Hitchcock delivered strike three to one of the league's top bats in Lexie Blair.

Classmate Taylor Fawcett also stopped a Michigan home run in the sixth with a catch at the wall, while fellow sophomore Kiersten Withstandley ended the inning stopping Blair from stealing for the first time in 2021.

No. 18 Michigan 3, Rutgers 0

STANDOUT STATS

• Fifth-year seniors Anyssa Iliopoulous and Hailey Hoklotubbe collected hits against Michigan ace Meghan Beaubien, the Wolverine pitcher currently ranked 23rd nationally in ERA.
• Sophomore catcher Kiersten Withstandley caught her 16th opponent trying to steal this season. Withstandley delivered the throw to Kiana Workman catching Blair for the first time this season attempting to steal.
• Ashley Hitchcock fanned a trio of Wolverine batters including Michigan's top hitter Blair. For Blair, the second-leading hitter in the Big Ten, it was only her seventh strikeout of the season.

THE RUNDOWN

• Michigan opened the game with back-to-back doubles to get onto the scoreboard from Blair and Natalia Rodriguez. Rodriguez would later score off a Hannah Carson single up the middle for the 2-0 Wolverine lead.
• The Scarlet Knights left Michigan in scoring position in the top of the second. Hitchcock collected her first strikeout of the contest sending down Blair, who leads her squad and is second in the Big Ten with a .414 batting average, on three pitches.
• The Wolverines added their final run in the third as Taylor Bump took a full count over the fence in left-center.
• Rutgers loaded the bases in the fourth with two outs. Gabrielle Callaway and Fawcett were both hit by pitches while Withstandley reached on as her pop-up to the circle was mishandled. The Scarlet Knights, however, would end the inning with all three runners left on.
• Fawcett robbed the Wolverines of another long ball in the sixth making the catch above the yellow outfield line at the wall in right.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team will play on national television on Saturday as they take on No. 18 Michigan in a doubleheader beginning at noon on the Big Ten Network. Lisa Byington and Jennie Ritter will be on the call.

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