BOCA RATON, Fla. (March 14, 2018) – You wouldn't want to leave Boca Raton, either. It took Rutgers softball a program-record 15 innings and three hours and fifteen minutes, but the Scarlet Knights (13-11) defeated Florida Atlantic (15-14) by a score of 5-4 on Wednesday evening in their final game in the Sunshine State.
 
Freshman designated player Erin Collins delivered the eventual game-winning RBI in the top of the 15^th and junior Whitney Jones earned a gutsy win following 12 innings of relief pitching, stamped by a strikeout to end the marathon. Collins' clutch hit was her third of the game, and plated the hottest hitter in the Rutgers lineup, freshman second baseman Myah Moy.
 
Moy extended her hitting streak to six games with a 4-for-7 performance, including her first collegiate home run in the 12^th, and a leadoff single in the 15^th that turned into the winning run.
 
FAU simply would not go away. Faced with an early 2-0 deficit via RBIs from Moy and senior third baseman Meaghan Wells, the Owls tied it at 2-2 with runs in the second and fourth inning. By then, Jones had taken over in the circle for sophomore starter Cambria Keefer, and delved into what would turn into a career-long outing.
 
Yet, the Owls erased two separate leads in extra innings with their backs against the wall, both of which came with two outs on the board. Sophomore right fielder Nicole Bowman put RU up 3-2 in the eighth, and Moy launched her first collegiate home run over the dead center field fence for the 4-3 advantage in the 12^th. However, FAU had the answer each time.
 
In the decisive 15^th, Moy was moved into scoring position by a sacrifice bunt off the bat of senior catcher Sierra Maddox, a hero in her own right for catching all 15 frames. Collins was up next, and drilled a single to left center to score the speedy Moy from second base.
 
Moy was also busy in the field, accounting for an absurd 17 outs on Wednesday with 10 putouts and seven assists without an error. She also turned another 4-4-3 double play, the Scarlet Knights' 20 double-dip of the season. She threw 149 pitches in the victory.
 
Jones won her sixth game of the season (6-4) with a career-high 12 innings pitching, allowing eight hits, three walks and just one earned run.
 
The last game to come close to the record-setting length of tonight's contest was a 1-0 loss in 13 innings at Providence on April 1, 2001.
 
The Scarlet Knights fly to Macon, Georgia on Thursday to begin the Bear Classic at Mercer from Friday through Sunday, when RU plays two against the host Bears, a pair opposite Bucknell and a single game versus Austin Peay.
 
 
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