PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The LIU Brooklyn softball team had a dramatic game on the road at Rutgers Wednesday afternoon, falling to the Scarlet Knights after leading in the sixth inning. Rutgers would force extra innings by scoring in the bottom of the seventh, and then steal the win on a walk-off home run, 7-5. LIU moves to 29-16 on the season with the loss.
Rutgers would score early in the game, putting a run on the board in the bottom of the first, and adding two more in the bottom of the third to take a 3-0 lead. But the Blackbirds started to chip away at the advantage in the top of the fourth. The Blackbirds would score a run with help from a Rutgers error, before a walk and an RBI single from junior
Patricia Griffin added another to the tally, making it 3-2.
LIU would take the lead in the top of the fifth inning, when sophomore
Ryleigh Bermea had a two RBI single down the right field line, putting the Blackbirds up, 4-3. LIU would add an insurance run in the top of the sixth. With two outs, Griffin would double to center field, and she came home on the next at bat, when freshman
Camryn Lyman doubled through the left side to make it 5-3 Blackbirds.
But in the bottom of the seventh inning, Rutgers would rally to score two runs on a single to left center field, tying the game up, 5-5, and forcing extra innings. The Blackbirds would get a runner in scoring position in the eighth, and kept the Scarlet Knights off the scoreboard in that frame, but in the bottom of the ninth, the home team had a one-out rally. The Knights would take the walk-off win on a two-run homer over the left center field fence, sneaking out with a 7-5 win.
Ryleigh Bermea led LIU with two RBI, going 1-for-4 at the plate, while
Alina Castillo,
Samantha Garcia,
Patricia Griffin and
Camryn Lyman all had multi-hit games for the Blackbirds.
Up next, LIU welcomes two Northeast Conference teams to downtown Brooklyn to close out the regular season. The Blackbirds will host CCSU and Bryant in the Bird Cage for doubleheaders, Friday, May 3 and Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m.