Rutgers Softball Opens Competition at Long Beach Invitational

Friday, March 7

Long Beach, Calif.

Rutgers University

6-4

Northwestern

11-3

RUTGERS

Northwestern

Rutgers Softball Opens Competition at Long Beach Invitational

Mar 07 | Softball

Box Score 1 Box Score 2

LONG BEACH, Calif. - The Rutgers softball team (6-5) faced a pair of ranked foes on the first day of competition at the Long Beach Invitational on Friday, March 7. The Scarlet Knights dropped a hard-fought 6-5 decision to No. 8 Northwestern (extra innings) in game one and lost to No. 24 Virginia Tech 9-0 in the second game.

Northwestern took an early lead as a pair of hits and five walks, led to a four-run first inning for the Wildcats. Freshman Katye Hamlin (College Station, Texas) entered the game in relief to retire the final batter of the first, and then went on to pitch a solid game, allowing just one earned run on six hits, while striking out three.

The Scarlet Knights rallied back and tied the score with two runs in each the second and third innings.

Leading off the second, freshman Mandy Craig (Manassas, Va.) singled to center field. Wildcat pitcher Jessica Smith then walked juniors Brittany Loisel (Gilbert, Ariz.) and Amanda Heller (Belle Mead, N.J.) to load the bases for the Scarlet Knights. Senior Ashley Hartley (Ripon, Calif.) was hit by a pitch in the next at-bat to plate the first run for RU, while freshman Jen Meinheit (Anaheim Hills, Calif.) hit a sac fly to left field to make it 4-2.

After chasing the Wildcats' starter, Northwestern brought in centerfielder Kelly Dyer to handle the pitching duties, and Rutgers responded with two scores to tie the game at 4-4. Junior Sarah Kalka (Moreno Valley, Calif.) singled to center, plating senior Mallory Miller (Anaheim, Calif.), who earned a walk to start the third inning. The Scarlet Knights then added another run on an RBI-triple from Craig to drive in Kalka.

Rutgers and Northwestern were locked in a pitchers' duel as the game remained knotted at 4-4 through the fourth and fifth, with Hamlin retiring the sides in order in both innings.

The Wildcats pulled ahead with a run in the sixth to go up 5-4; however the Scarlet Knights answered with a score of their own in the seventh to tie the game for a second time at 5-5. Freshman Mickenzie Alden (Spokane, Wash.) singled to start the inning and stole second. Alden then advanced to third on a groundout by Meinheit, before scoring on Amanda Shaw's (Yorba Linda, Calif.) single to left field.

Extra innings were needed to decide the contest, but the Scarlet Knights were unable to plate the deciding run. Northwestern went on to score in the bottom of the ninth as Rutgers suffered the hard-luck 6-5 loss to the eighth-ranked Wildcats.

Facing its second ranked opponent in as many games, Rutgers fell behind early as Virginia Tech scored six runs in the first and one in the second to take a 7-0 lead. The Scarlet Knights put together several short rallies, but it was not enough as the Hokies secured the 9-0 victory.

Rutgers will return to action for the second day of the tournament on Saturday, March 8, taking on Cal State Fullerton at 6:45 p.m. (EST) and No. 2 UCLA at 9:00 p.m. (EST).