CLERMONT Fla. –Becker College dropped their fifth game of the year losing to The University of Rutgers, Newark 6 to 1 at Hancock Park, Florida Tuesday afternoon in record breaking heat.
The contest was held close all game by two good pitching performances on both sides. The winning pitcher for Rutgers was Kelly Yusko (Portage, Pa.) who earned her first win of the season pitching seven innings, giving up only four hits and one earned run while striking out eight Hawk batters. Kelsey Norberg (Uxbridge, Mass.) pitched six innings for the Hawks, giving up only five hits and six runs, all of which were not earned due to some shaky defense in the field; Norberg also struck out 2 in the loss.
After a quiet first inning for the Hawks offensively, Rutgers was able to plate two runs in the bottom of the first inning. After Rutgers lead off with a walk followed by a Hawks error, Liesel Johnson (Trinity, Fla.) doubled to left field bringing home the two runners. Norberg was able to hold Rutgers off the board for the rest of the half inning.
Becker responded by adding their own run in the top half of the second inning. Samantha Lee (Prospect, Conn.) smashed a one out double to left field and was driven home by Brianna Herforth (Peru, Mass.). The Hawks would strand Herforth to end the inning.
After a quiet third and fourth inning for both teams, Rutgers would get their first two runners on in the fifth with errors from the Hawks defense. Liesel Johnson would come up big again for Rutgers driving both runners in with a double to left field. Norberg would settle down and get the next three hitters keeping the Rutgers lead at 3 runs.
Rutgers would add to their lead in the next inning. Morgan Walizer (Forked River, N.J.) led the inning off by reaching on a HBP. She would advance to second on a fielder's choice and would later score on another Hawks error.
Despite the loss, the Hawks offense was able to put runners on base but was missing that true key hit to put it all together. They will have another chance facing a top five ranked team in the country, Washington University today at Hancock Park.
