CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Rutgers softball split the final day of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic on Saturday.
Freshman right-hander Ella Harrison fanned a career-high 11 batters, but Oregon State took a 3-0 victory behind a three-run home run in the fifth inning in game one.
The Scarlet Knights bounced back from the 3-0 deficit in the top half of the first to come back for a 6-4 win over UC Riverside to close out the weekend.
Rutgers, who faced three top-25 SEC teams at the Classic, closed out the weekend moving to 7-9 overall.
Oregon State 3, Rutgers 0
- Freshman Ella Harrison collected her third game with double-figure strikeouts sending down 11 Beavers at the plate. She allowed three runs on seven hits, with the only extra-base hit being OSU's home run in the fifth inning.
- Freshman third baseman Addie Osborne captured RU's lone hit in the bottom of the fifth.
- It was a 0-0 stalemate until the top of the fifth. Dardis came aboard after getting hit and Lewis singled to left center before Howey homered to left center for the game's only scoring.
- The Beavers limited RU to one hit coming from the bat of Addie Osborne in the bottom half of the inning with two outs.
Rutgers 6, UC Riverside 4
- Freshman Jayla Fuller made her first career start and went 2-for-3 with two RBIs and run scored
- Senior Jillian Anderson went 2-for-4, adding two RBIs.
- Freshman Riley Hwang got the start at second base collecting an RBI and run scored.
- Freshman Kelsey Hoekstra notched her second complete game and improved to 3-4 overall. She gave up two earned runs on six hits while striking out five.
- The Highlanders jumped out to a 3-0 lead after the top half of the first. Trendee Kahunahana, who reached on an error, scored on a wild pitch and while Mariana Palazuelos added two runs on a single thru the right side.
- By the third inning, however, the contest was all tied up. Jayla Fuller led off with a double and came home on a Riley Hwang single that avoided the glove of UCR's left fielder. Errors would prove costly for the Highlanders going forward. Hailey Stripling made it second on a pair of errors. Hwang, meanwhile, would score on sac fly from Jillian Anderson while Stripling would provide the tying run advancing as UCR overthrew third base trying to catch the Scarlet Knight advancing. Instead, Stripling would make it a 3-3 ballgame.
- Fuller helped add cushion in the fifth with a two-run double to left with two outs.
- Anderson pushed RU out to a 6-3 edge in the sixth on an RBI single plating pinch runner Bailey Briggs from second.
- In the seventh, Kamryn Davis added a run for the Highlanders with a solo home run with two outs. Rutgers, however, ended the ball game on the next batter.
Rutgers softball is back in action traveling to the Jane B. Moore Memorial Tournament in Auburn, Alabama next weekend. In addition to taking on host No. 18 Auburn, RU will also meet up with Louisiana and McNeese State.
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