Vickers Tosses No-Hitter, Rutgers Plates 16 in Home Opener
RUTGERS 16 – UMES 0 – Game 1
Jaden Vickers tossed five no-hit innings for the first no-hitter in ten years for Rutgers softball, and the offense brought plenty of thunder, plating 16 runs in a 16-0 route of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, in the first game of a double header.
Vickers struck out seven batters and walked four over five innings to improve to 11-2 on the season. She became the first Scarlet Knight to toss a n0-no since Alyssa Landrith did it May 1, 2012 against Lafayette.
Meanwhile the offense was another story for Rutgers. Rutgers scored nine of their 16 runs in the opening inning. In fact, Rutgers led 15-0 after two innings of play.
It was a huge opener for Payton Lincavage who went 2-for-3 with three runs scored and three RBI.
Kayla Bock (2-for-2) had a big day too, plating two runs on a double in the bottom of the first inning that gave RU an early 3-0 lead. Ashley Hitchcock also drove in a pair of runs on a two-RBI single in the bottom of the first to make it 5-0.
B1 | Early Lead#GoRU | #ChallengeAccepted pic.twitter.com/FtThibc8mf
— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) March 17, 2022
Lincavage’s two run single to left played Hitchcock and and Kiersten Withstandley to make it 7-0, Rutgers.
Gabrielle Callaway added two more runs in the frame with a two-run double to push the lead to 9-0.
Overall, the 16 runs generated by the Scarlet Knights were the most for the squad since scoring 18 in an 18-9 victory over LIU Brooklyn back on April 28, 2015.
Meanwhile in the nightcap, UMES stormed back in the later innings to steal the second game 4-3.
B6 | A wild way to take back the lead#GoRU | #ChallengeAccepted pic.twitter.com/w3HciCkruV
— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) March 17, 2022
A RBI single by UMES’ Kelsie Ekstorm knotted the game up at three in the top of the sixth inning on a single to left.
An inning later, Tatum Kresley delivered the game winner for the Hawks on a base up the middle to drive in Kaylyn Sterling with the go-ahead run.
The comeback by UMES spoiled what was a solid effort by Ashley Hitchcock, who carried a 2-0 lead through five innings. She finished the day allowing four runs, two earned, on five hits over seven innings of work.
Rutgers is now 17-10 on the season. They host St. Peter’s and Fairfield on Friday; Holy Cross on Saturday and Drexel on Sunday.
