(5 inn.)
Monmouth Hawks (4-22, 0-0 MAAC) – 3
Rutgers Scarlet Knights (23-12, 1-2 Big Ten) – 11
 
PISCATAWAY, NJ – On a cold Tuesday afternoon, the Monmouth University softball team (4-22) fell in five innings to Big Ten opponent Rutgers (23-12) by a score of 11-3.
 
The Scarlet Knights batted around and built a 10-0 advantage in the first inning. With two outs in the top of the second, the Hawks chipped away at the deficit when Lindsey Baron connected on her second home run of the season, bringing home Kiley O'Rourke and Abby Warner. Rutgers pushed across a run in the bottom of the fifth to take the 11-3 victory.
 
Billie Kerwood entered in relief and provided 4.1 solid frames, allowing three earned runs on four hits while striking out nine.
 
NOTES AND QUOTES
"We created opportunities all day offensively. I think it is a different game if we have a better start and push two or three more runs. We need to continue to work to minimize the big innings." – Head Coach Shannon Salsburg
 
-The nine strikeouts for Kerwood represented a new career-high for the freshman
-Baron's home run was the 19^th of her career
-Francesca Torraca went 1-3, extending her hitting streak to six games
-Stavi Augur has picked up a hit in six of her last seven games
-Kylie Gletow started her 12^th game of the season in the circle
-Abby Warner threw out two runners, bringing her total for the season up to 11
 
NUMBERS CRUNCH
-Five different Hawks notched a hit
-Rutgers had a slight edge in two-out RBIs, 4-3
-With runners on base, Monmouth hit .357 on the day
 
UP NEXT
The Hawks have a quick turnaround as they'll head to Delaware to take on the Blue Hens tomorrow, March 30. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m.