DURHAM, N.C. - Rutgers put a victory into the win column for the Big Ten as the Scarlet Knights took an 11-10 victory over Syracuse in extra innings on Friday afternoon at the Duke Softball Complex during the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.

The nine-inning win improved the Scarlet Knights to 4-2 on the season.

Rutgers never trailed in the marathon contest. The Scarlet Knights went out in front three batters into the game off a two-run homer from sophomore Katie Wingert. Although the Orange tied the ball game up in the bottom of the inning, Rutgers added another pair of runs in its next trip to plate and managed a lead until the bottom of the seventh. Syracuse, who had fought back to within a run three times, tied the game in the bottom of the seventh. 

A Payton Lincavage double sent home the winning run in the top of the ninth. 
 

STANDOUT STATS

• Freshman Payton Lincavage sent home pinch runner Cambria Keefer on a double for the winning run in the top of the ninth.
• Sophomore Katie Wingert finished 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs to center field and four RBI and freshman Taylor Fawcett went 3-for-4 with two runs and two RBI.
• Corah Price, who started the contest and pitched the final 1.2 innings, got the win in her first appearance of the year.

THE RUNDOWN

• Three batters into the contest, Katie Wingert crushed the ball into center field scoring Anyssa Iliopoulos for a 2-0 Rutgers lead.
• In their first at-bat the Orange used a trio of singles, including an Alexis Kaiser RBI single to center field, to get Syracuse on the scoreboard. Alex Acevedo followed with a sacrifice fly to left to tie the game at 2-2 at the end of one.
• The Scarlet Knights reclaimed the lead the following inning. Ashley Hitchcock led off with a walk while Kiana Workman reached base on a drop by fly to left. Both scored when Taylor Fawcett ripped the ball down the left field line.
• At RU's next turn at the bat, Gabrielle Callaway sent the ball over the right field fence for the second home run of the game and a 5-2 Scarlet Knight advantage.
• The bottom of the third had the Orange cut its deficit to a run and trail 5-4 on RBI doubles from Alex Acevdeo and Neli Casares-Maher down the left field line.
• Rutgers tacked on two more runs in the top of the fourth.  A double to right center from Aleah Marra and single dropping in shallow left just inside the foul line from Iliopoulos put the Scarlet Knights ahead 7-4.
• Syracuse responded in the bottom of the fourth by closing the gap to a run again. The Orange led off the inning with four consecutive hits. A Jaime Gregg single down the left line and Paris Woods double to center saw the Orange trail 7-6, before Jaden Vickers came to the mound with no outs to help wrap up the inning with a pair of strikeouts.
• The Scarlet Knights, however, added on three runs in the top of the sixth. An Iliopoulos pop foul to left field allowed Taylor Fawcett to tag up and score from third and Wingert cracked another two-run home run for a 10-6 edge.
• The Orange used three hits to garner three runs to narrow the deficit to a run for a third time in the bottom of the sixth as Rutgers held on to a 10-9 lead. Gregg collected another two RBI with a double to left and snuck in off a Casares-Maher single despite her teammate picking up the third out trying to advance.
• In their next plate appearance, Syracuse tied the ballgame up at 10-10 to send the game to extra innings. Rebecca Clyde doubled to right and was thrown out a trying to take the extra base, but the Orange managed to get a run in before the out.
• In the top of the ninth, Payton Lincavage doubled to left and was tagged out between the bases as Gabrielle Callaway stayed at third. On the double, however, Lincavage was able to send home pinch runner Cambria Keefer for the winning run.
   

KNIGHT NOTES

• Katie Wingert swung for her second and third home runs of the season. She currently has 21 career home runs for a three-way tie for fifth place on the all-time list.
• Gabrielle Callaway hit her first Scarlet Knight home run and the sixth of her career.
• Cambria Keefer registered her second run of the season with Scarlet Knight pinch runners responsible for five total runs and capturing winning runs in both extra inning victories to date.
• The marathon contest took 3:18 to complete setting the Duke Softball Stadium record for longest game.

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team plays two tomorrow in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. The Scarlet Knights open with Syracuse at 3:00 p.m and host team Duke at 5:30 p.m.

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