PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Sacrifice flies from the bats of Gabrielle Callaway and Kiersten Withstandley, four strikeouts from Jaden Vickers and the ability to fend off a seventh inning surge lifted the Rutgers softball team to a 2-1 victory over Lamar on Friday night.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Sophomore Kyleigh Sand and junior Payton Lincavage scored both runs for Rutgers.
• Junior lefthander Jaden Vickers tossed six innings fanning six Cardinals and only allowed one hit while Ashley Hitchcock came in relief for the save.

THE RUNDOWN

• Rutgers wasted no time in getting onto the scoreboard. Kyleigh Sand leadoff getting into scoring position. The sophomore doubled just past third past and reached third on a throwing error. Two batters later, Gabrielle Callaway flied out to right giving Sand enough time to tag up and put the Scarlet Knights up 1-0.
• The Scarlet Knights tacked on another run in the sixth. Payton Lincavage reached base after getting hit with a pitch and advanced to second off a single thru the left side by freshman Maddie Lawson. Junior Kiersten Withstandley followed flying out to center, but Lincavage was ready on the tag, rounding third and reaching home before the throw to put RU up 2-0.
• Lamar thwarted the shutout in its final turn at-bat. Back-to-back hits including an RBI double by Felixia Hinjosa narrowed the gap to 2-1. The next three Cardinals, however, flied out to left giving the Scarlet Knights its first victory of 2022.. 

UP NEXT

Rutgers softball closes out its appearance at the 2022 Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Saturday with two games. The Scarlet Knights meet Lamar again at 11:00 am (ET) and closes out play with No. 7 Washington at 4:00 pm (ET).

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