PUERTO VALLARTA, Mexico – Rutgers softball split its final day at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge on Saturday to close out the weekend 2-3 overall.

The bats came alive in game one as the Scarlet Knights used 10 hits, half of which were extra bases, to take its second-straight win over Lamar, 6-2.

In game two against its second top 25 program of the weekend, No. 7 Washington's powerhouse offense handed RU a 9-0 setback in six innings.

Junior Jaden Vickers and graduate student Gabrielle Callaway were named to the all-tournament team.

Vickers pitched 19.0 innings with a 2.95 ERA picking up a pair of victories over Lamar. She struck out 11 batters and kept the opposition to a .167 average over the weekend.  

Callaway, meanwhile, finished the five-game tournament hitting .400 with six hits and a team-leading four RBIs. 

Rutgers 6, Lamar 2

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Graduate student Gabrielle Callaway finished 3-for-4 with a double and a triple along with an RBI and run scored.
• Sophomore Lauren Punk in her first career start went 2-for-3 including her first career home run that opened scoring on the day for the Scarlet Knights.
• Rookie Maddie Lawson scored a pair of runs and added an RBI going 2-for-4 at the plate including a double.
• Junior Payton Lincavage also collected a triple in the victory.
• Junior Jaden Vickers improved to 2-0 on the year with allowing no runs and two hits in six innings and sending down five on strikes.

THE RUNDOWN

• Rutgers opened up scoring in the top of the third as Lauren Punk took the first pitch of her first at-bat of the season deep into center field.
• Maddie Lawson delivered a double in the fourth and put the Scarlet Knights up 2-0 after coming home on Kiersten Withstandley's base hit to center.
• RU continued with another run in the fifth. Punk led off with a triple to right center and a sac fly to center from Kyleigh Sand drove in pinch runner Mya Mancinic to grow to the Scarlet Knight advantage to 3-0.
• Rutgers put up another two runs for a 5-0 lead in the sixth. Gabrielle Callaway transported the ball into the right field corner for a triple followed by Lawson adding the RBI on a single to left. Then with two outs, Courtney Wilde dropped the ball into shallow right for Lawson's second run of the game.
• The top of the seventh saw the Scarlet Knights extend their lead to 6-0 with a pair of two-out extra-base hits. Payton Lincavage tripled off the center field wall and was brought home at the next at-bat with Callaway 's third hit of the contest, reaching the fence on a double into left.
• Lamar again put up runs in their final at-bat to stop the potential shutout. Audry Fleming smacked a two-run home run into right, but RU would retire the next three batters for its second-straight win.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Gabrielle Callaway tied her career high with her trio of hits and posted her 13^th career triple.
• Payton Lincavage, meanwhile, recorded her second career triple.

No. 7 Washington 9, Rutgers 0

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Junior Payton Lincavage and graduate student Gabrielle Callaway each went 1-for-2.
• Junior Ashley Hitchcock dropped to 0-2 giving up three runs on five hits. Classmate Jaden Vickers threw for 3.0 innings striking out one.

THE RUNDOWN

• The Huskies, who appeared in last year's NCAA Super Regional and improved to 4-0, used three home runs en-route to the win. Washington entered the game having already gone over the fence four times in victories over No. 8 Arkansas, Long Beach and Lamar.
• Scoring opened in the top of the second with a three-run long ball to center from Sami Reynolds.
• Kinsey Fielder added a solo shot to right to lead off the top third and Madison Huskey gave Washington another three-run blast to center to put the Huskies up 7-0 in the fourth.
• Huskey used an RBI double to right center in the fifth and added the final run of the contest off a Sara Willis single to center. 

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team returns to action next weekend at the Pirate Classic hosted by ECU. In addition to the host Pirates, the Scarlet Knights will also take on Wagner and Colgate on Feb. 18-20.

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