For the third week in a row, the Scarlet Knights have had a decided scoring drought against Big Ten opponents. While the offense showed up in the final game of the series against Penn State, over the last seven games RU has been outscored 87-15, having gone 0-7 over that span.

Game 1:

Starting RU pitcher Ella Harrison and PSU starter Mady Volpe locked up in a pitchers’ duel in game one, surrendering just six hits and three runs between them.

The Nittany Lions struck early, when RBI hits by Haylie Brunson and Maddie Gordon gave PSU a 2-0 lead in the first inning. That lead held up behind the strong pitching by Volpe, who was hurling a no-hitter through five innings.

However, senior Jillian Anderson started off the top of the sixth with a single, breaking up the no-hitter. Eventually, she came home on the sacrifice fly off the bat of freshman Riley Hwang.

The rally fell short, however, and Penn State took game one by a score of 2-1. Volpe took the win, while Harrison took the loss.

Game 2:

Head coach Kristen Butler went back to Harrison in the second meeting, and the freshman responded with three scoreless innings to start the game.

The Nittany Lions finally found the solution to Harrison, reaching her for three runs in the bottom of the fourth. From there, pitcher Laurelai DePew replaced Harrison, but the PSU attack continued, scoring five more times on the way to an 8-0 victory.

Harrison again took the loss for Rutgers, while pitcher Abigail Britton collected the win for Penn State behind a two-hit shutout.

Game 3:

Anderson started off the game by slapping her seventh double of the season, which was the start of the Scarlet Knights batting around in the top of the first.

By the time the top of the first inning was over, they stood with a 5-0 lead as Kelsey Hoekstra stepped into the circle for her fifteenth start of the season.

But the lead would not last. The Nittany Lions then batted around in the bottom of the first, tying the game, 5-5. However, the Scarlet Knights bounced right back with two more in the top of the second, the big blow being a triple by left fielder Baileigh Burtis.

Trailing 7-5, PSU again changed the scoreboard, as they tallied two more to tie the game and knock Hoekstra out of the circle. That brought on DePew to pitch for Rutgers, but the Knights soon surrendered two more, and PSU took the lead, 9-7.

From there the Nittany Lions took control of the game, scoring three in the third and three more in the fifth to extend their lead to 15-7.

While the Knights did mount a late-inning comeback, ultimately they fell short, dropping the final game of the series, 15-11. Sophomore Jiselle Hernandez took the win in relief for PSU, while Hoekstra took the loss for Rutgers.

Now 16-24 on the season, the Scarlet Knights will return home to face the Lehigh Mountain Hawks on Tuesday, April 8 at the Rutgers Softball Complex. From there, Rutgers will once again go on the road to face the Michigan Wolverines for a three-game series beginning on April 12.