COMMERCE, Texas – Rutgers softball was victorious in both games Friday to open up the Lions Invitational.

The Scarlet Knights opened play with 10 hits, including the first home runs of the year from the bats of LA Matthews and Georgia Ingle, for a 9-2 win and posted its first shutout of the year in a 7-0 win over host East Texas A&M.

Rutgers 9, SIUE 3

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Graduate student LA Matthews and senior Georgia Ingle both collected RU's first home runs of the season with solo shots in the fifth and sixth, respectively.
• Matthews finished the game 3-for-4 for three RBIs and two runs scored.
• Junior Siera Hoekstra notched three RBIs on a base-clearing double in a four-run first inning.
• Redshirt sophomore Bailey Briggs went 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs plated.
• Senior Jillian Aderson also added two runs in the victory.
• Freshman right-hander Ella Harrison went the distance in her first collegiate victory. The rookie struck out eight Cougars while giving up a pair of earned runs on six hits.

THE RUNDOWN

• Scarlet Knights notched four runs in the bottom of the first. With the bases loaded, LA Matthews singled thru the left side for Jillian Anderson to score RU's first run of the game. While the Cougars stopped a run at the plate with Stephanie Kraska's at-bat, Siera Hoekstra smacked a base-clearing double to follow and gave Rutgers a 4-0 edge at the end of one.
• SIUE trailed by one after putting up a trio of runs in the third. Two Cougars were aboard for a Lauren Yslava triple and Emma Henderson used a sac fly to left to cut their squad's deficit to one, 4-3.
  LA Matthews went yard in the fifth for a solo shot to left and a 5-3 lead. It was RU's first home run of the season and Matthew's second career home run.
• The Scarlet Knights added four more runs in the sixth. Georgia Ingle led off pinch-hitting and took a full count over the wall in right field for her second career dinger. RU proceeded to put runners into scoring position with one out to set up Bailey Briggs and Matthews to have back-to-back infield base hits to push the Scarlet Knights out to an 8-3 advantage. Jayla Fuller followed with a sac fly for the game's final margin.

Rutgers 7, East Texas A&M 0

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Senior Jillian Anderson went 2-for-3 with three RBIs.
• Freshman Addie Osborne trotted around the bases three times and redshirt freshman Hailey Stripling added another two.
• Rutgers collected its first shutout of the season as freshman right-hander Kelsey Hoekstra upped her mark to 2-1 on the season. Hoekstra tossed five innings allowing three hits with four strikeouts. Senior Laurelai DePew was in the circle to face six batters in the final two innings with a strikeout.
   

THE RUNDOWN

• Rutgers put up a pair of runs in the top of the third. With a pair of outs, a throwing error to first pushed across Addie Osborne and landed Hailey Stripling at third. Jillian Anderson followed with a single to left to bring home Stripling for a 2-0 advantage.
• The Scarlet Knights added two more in the fifth. It was Osborne scoring again, making her way across the plate on a Stripling single up the middle. It was another base hit up the middle, this time from Bailey Briggs, giving Stripling her second run scored of the game and a 4-0 Rutgers lead.
• With two outs in the sixth, RU was able to score three runs. An illegal pitch kept Stripling alive at the plate with the bases loaded. With a full count, she was hit by a pitch and brought home Riley Hwang. Two more runs scored on Anderson's drop into left field, scoring Stripling and Osborne.
   

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team is back for Day Two of the Lion Invitational. The Scarlet Knights take on Abilene Christian at 11 a.m. and SIUE at 3:30 p.m. Both games will be streamed on LionAthletics.com with live results available on Statbroadcast.com

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