Following their victory at home over Lehigh, the Scarlet Knights were once again on the road this weekend, traveling to Ann Arbor to face Big Ten foe Michigan in the three-game series.
While it may have been a learning experience for the young Knights, the 28-12 Wolverines saw an opportunity to feast on a weaker division member, and thus pad their conference record in the hopes of reaching postseason play.
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Game One. Buoyed by their recent success against the Mountain Hawks, the Scarlet Knights came out with plenty of fight, giving the Wolverines all they could handle in an afternoon start against Michigan.
A crowd of 1,804 watched as freshman Ella Harrison once again shined, holding the Wolverines offense in check. While Michigan managed a solo home run off the bat of Ellie Sieler in the second inning, Harrison's pitching was enough to keep the Knights in the game.
But RU could not mount any type of offensive attack, and the lack of run support eventually caught up with the Scarlet Knights.
Leading 1-0 in the bottom of the sixth, the Wolverines got RBI singles from Lilly Vallimont and Madi Ramey to extend the lead to three with just one frame remaining.
Although they were able to push across a run in the top of the seventh, the Scarlet Knights would collect only three hits in the game as Harrison took her thirteenth loss of the season while Lauren Derkowski picked up the win for Michigan.
Game Two. A run-rule victory in the second game of the series did not feature many highlights for the Knights as they saw Michigan score two in the 1st inning, three in the fifth, and six more in the sixth on their way to an easy 11-3 victory. Starter Laurelai DePew took her third loss of the season for Rutgers, while Erin Hoehn earned her sixteenth victory of the year for the Wolverines. The bright spot for the Knights was freshman Riley Hwang, who in addition to hitting a double, also collected her first career home run in the game.
Game Three. Scoring three in the first and three in the second, Michigan sprinted out to an early 6-0 lead, before the Knights could even begin to muster any offense. Once again it was Harrison in the circle for Rutgers, but having seen her once during the series already, the Wolverines took advantage of their familiarity and paced themselves to an early lead.
The Knights did rally with extra base hits in the fifth inning, including Addie Osborne’s first career home run.
However, leading 6-3 in the sixth, the Wolverines salted the game by tallying two more runs on their way to an 8-4 win. Harrison once again absorbed the loss for Rutgers, while Derkowski picked up her twelfth win of the year for Michigan, helping the Wolverines improve their record to 31-12.
Now 17-27, the Scarlet Knights return home this week to begin an extended homestand. After a one-game matchup against in-state rival Seton Hall on Wednesday, April 16, RU will get set to face Northwestern in a three-game series over the Easter weekend. The games will be carried on the Big Ten Plus network.
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