It was a weekend that the Scarlet Knights would like to put behind them as quickly as possible.
The sixth-ranked Oregon Ducks rolled into Piscataway and demonstrated why they are one of the powerhouse programs in the nation. Both meetings of the two-game series this weekend were run-shortened affairs, as the Ducks dominated the young Scarlet Knights lineup.
Game 1: Friday’s game saw the Ducks storm into Piscataway with their Big Ten conference-leading team ERA, as well as being the conference leader in stolen bases. With two players in their starting lineup batting over .400, the Scarlet Knights’ pitching staff would be facing a formidable task.
Rutgers could only collect three hits in the game, while the Ducks tied a program record with 19 of their own. The Ducks utilized two home runs, one a three-run blast by Stefini Ma’ake and a grand slam by Braiesey Rosa to bury the Knights on their way to a 20-1 run-shortened victory.
The lone bright spot for RU was the RBI double by freshman Jayla Fuller that drove home Allison Amadio to break up the shutout. For the Ducks, starting hurler Lyndsey Grein picked up her seventeenth win of the season. Freshman Kelsey Hoekstra, now 5-9 on the season, took the loss for Rutgers.
Game 2: Lorelai DePew got her first start of the season in the circle, and she appeared to be holding her own against the powerful Ducks lineup until surrendering a two-run homer to Rylee McCoy that put Oregon ahead, 2-0, in the first inning.
The Knights once again struggled to string together hits and were unable to mount a scoring opportunity until a no-doubt, two-run homer by L.A. Matthews in the third inning that made the score 7-2.
The scrappy Knights loaded the bases in the bottom of the fourth inning, forcing Ducks’ head coach Melyssa Lombardi to once again go to her ace, bringing Grein in from the bullpen to squash the rally.
But this day belonged to the Ducks, who powered five home runs in the contest, on their way to a 21-2 victory. After tying the program record on Friday, the Ducks set a new program record with 20 hits in Saturday’s game. DePew took the loss for Rutgers, while Grein picked up the win in relief with just 1.2 innings of work.
The Scarlet Knights will now travel to Penn State to take on the Nittany Lions for a three-game series that begins on Friday, April 4 at 5:00 p.m. All three games will be carried on the Big Ten Plus network.
