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Rutgers softball loses 2 of 3 in series against Purdue

The Rutgers softball team fell to Purdue in its penultimate series of the season. – Photo by Rutgers Softball / Twitter

The Rutgers softball team fell in its weekend series against Purdue, losing 2 of 3 games in West Lafayette, Indiana.

The Scarlet Knights (25-28, 3-17) split day one in a rescheduled doubleheader on Friday. 

Rutgers took game one in a 4-1 final against the Boilermakers (22-29, 5-14). A run batted in (RBI) from sophomore utility Kobie Hura got the scoring started in the first for the Knights. 

Rutgers tacked on a few extra runs in the third to secure the team's lead further. Freshman infielder Maddie Lawson singled up the middle to bring in sophomore shortstop Kyleigh Sand and junior infielder Payton Lincavage

Graduate student utility Gabrielle Callaway scored on a passed ball to give the Knights a 4–0 lead after three innings. 

Junior pitcher Ashley Hitchcock was able to hold off Purdue, only giving up one run in the seventh on a sacrifice fly from Olivia McFadden to bring in Rachel Becker. The 4-1 final gave Hitchcock her 11th win of the season with Rutgers.

The Knights fell in an extra-innings matchup later in the evening. The game went five extra innings until the Boilermakers finally came out on top.

Junior pitcher Jaden Vickers was in the circle for Rutgers the entire game, giving up three runs to Purdue. 

The Boilermakers opened up the scoring in the second with an RBI single from Kaeley Hallada. The Knights then tied it up in the fourth with a run brought in by junior outfielder Taylor Fawcett. Rutgers took the lead in the fifth when Lincavage singled to bring in Hura. 

Purdue tied it up again in the bottom of the seventh on a sacrifice fly to bring the game into extra innings. 

The game went scoreless for four and a half extra innings, with the tie finally being broken up in the bottom of the 12th by the Boilermakers. A walk with the bases loaded brought in the final run of the game, giving Purdue the 3-2 victory in extras.

The Knights fell for their second game in a row yesterday, going down to the Boilermakers 8-2.

Purdue got off to a hot start with two solo home runs in the first inning to give the team an early 2-0 lead. The Boilermakers immediately followed up with a four-run second inning to extend their lead to 6-0.

Lincavage got Rutgers on the board with a solo home run in the fifth, but Purdue came right back in the bottom of the inning, tacking on an extra two runs courtesy of a homer from Hallada. 

Lawson collected an RBI in the seventh for the Knights to finalize the score at 8-2. 

Rutgers will be back home for the program's final regular-season series next weekend against Michigan State. All three games will be broadcasted on Big Ten Network+.


For more updates on the Rutgers softball team, follow @TargumSports on Twitter.


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