CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Rutgers softball split day two of the Mary Collegiate Classic on Friday afternoon.

The Scarlet Knights faced their third-straight nationally ranked SEC opponent in falling to No. 7 Tennessee, 10-1, but rebounded with a 5-1 win over Bethune Cookman taking a shutout into the final inning of action.

No. 7 Tennesse 10, Rutgers 1

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Redshirt sophomore Bailey Briggs and senior Jillian Anderson both logged hits in the loss.
• Graduate student LA Matthews picked up the RBI on her sac fly for RU's run.
• Freshman Kelsey Hoekstra got the start going 3.1 innings and falling to 2-4 on the year. Senior Georgia Ingle appeared in the circle in the fifth inning, facing seven Lady Vols.

THE RUNDOWN

• Bailey Briggs led off for the Scarlet Knights giving the squad a 1-0 lead after a half inning. She kicked off the contest with an infield single and advanced on a wild pitch and sac bunt from
• Jillian Anderson before coming across the plate on a sac fly by LA Matthews.
• Tennessee tied the game in the bottom half opening their at-bat with a pair of hits.  Saviya Morgan tripled down the left field line to leadoff off and came home on the next batter as Kinsey Fielder singled to short.
• The Lady Vols took the lead in the third. Morgan reached on a fielder's choice, stole second and advanced to third on a wild pitch before giving Tennessee a 2-1 edge scoring on another Fielder infield base hit. Taylor Pannell followed with a home run to left-center to push UT out to a 3-1 lead.
• Scoring continued for the Lady Vols in the fourth adding four runs on three hits. Katie Taylor positioned herself into scoring position on a sac bunt to score on a Bella Faw fielder's choice. Morgan added an RBI double and was on third when the bases were loaded for Pannell to get her home on ground out. Laura Mealer then added an RBI triple to right center extending UT's lead to 7-1.   
• Emma Clarke walked it off in the fifth for the Lady Vols with a home run to center.

Rutgers 5, Bethune Cookman 1

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Redshirt sophomore Bailey Briggs went 2-for-3 with a run.
• Graduate student LA Matthews contributed two 2 RBIs, including a sac fly.
• Junior Siera Hokeskra and freshman Addie Osborne each notched back-to-back triples with Osborne recording an RBI her hit.
• Freshman Bailey Burtis also notched an RBI in the victory.
• Freshman Ella Harrison evened her record at 4-4 in the circle, giving up no runs and four hits in 4.2 innings. She struck out eight along the way. Classmate Dezaire Johnson closed out the final 2.1 innings of action.

THE RUNDOWN

• Rutgers repeated with another early 1-0 lead. Leadoff Hailey Stripling singled to short to open up play and later score on a sac fly from LA Matthews.
• The Scarlet Knights tacked on two more in the fourth and fifth.
• The third inning saw RU post four hits with RBI singles from Matthews and Baileigh Burtis.
• In the fourth, it was back-to-back triples to right field helping to extend RU's lead. Siera Hoekstra led off with the three-base hit and came home on the three-base crack of the bat from
• Addie Osborne. Osborne would score on a single thru the left side of the infield by Stripling.
• Bethune Cookman avoided the shutout in the bottom of the seventh. Emma Bradley-Tse reached on a bunt, stole second and three batters later scored on a Jessica Alaan single to right.

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team closes out its time at the 2025 Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Saturday with Oregon State at 5:30 p.m. (ET) and UC Riverside at 8:00 p.m. (ET). Both games will be streamed by FloSoftball.

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