PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers softball team dropped the series finale with Illinois, 9-1, on a chilly Easter Sunday afternoon at the Rutgers Softball Complex.
The Fighting Illini won their 10th-straight upping their mark to 26-13 overall and 9-2 in the Big Ten. The Scarlet Knights fell to 23-22 and 1-11 in league play.
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- Graduate student Gabrielle Callaway was 3-for-3 with Rutgers' lone run off her team-leading ninth home run of the year.
- Sophomore Kyleigh Sand reached base on a walk to extend her on-base streak to 26 games.
- Junior Ashley Hitchcock was Sunday's starter going 2.2 innings. She allowed four hits and only one earned run in dropping to 9-15 on the year.
- Home runs gave Illinois a 5-0 lead after three innings. Kelly Ryono had a solo long ball to lead off the second and Delaney Rummell hit a grand slam in the fourth.
- The Fighting Illini used a trio of base hits in the fourth as Megan Ward had an RBI single to right to extend the visitor's lead to 6-0.
- Gabrielle Callaway took a 1-1 count over the well into straight center field to score RU's lone run of the afternoon in the bottom of the inning.
- Jaden Vickers and the Scarlet Knight defense got out of a jam in the fifth. The bases were loaded with one out when RU turned the 1-2-3 double play to retire the side. Vickers also tossed one of her three strikeouts for the first out of the inning.
- Illinois added three more runs in the seventh. Danielle Davis collected a two-run triple and pinch-runner Gabi Robles scored on a miscue in trying to keep the Fighting Illini runner on base.
- Kyleigh Sand led Rutgers at the plate hitting .625 (5-for-8) on the weekend with three doubles. The shortstop leads RU with 43Â runs on the year.
- Gabrielle Callaway batted .444 (4-for-9) with a double, home run and three RBIs. The left fielder has a team-leading 46Â RBIs in 2022.
- Jaden Vickers led the pitching staff with six strikeouts in her three appearances.
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Rutgers has five Big Ten games coming up this week. The Scarlet Knights travel to Maryland on Tuesday for a mid-week doubleheader beginning at 4 p.m. and begin a three-game series at home against Penn State on Friday. Admission to all Scarlet Knight softball home games is free.
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