TEMPE, Ariz. – The Rutgers softball team opened the day taking an early lead and going on to collect at 11-7 victory over New Mexico State, but fell 5-1 in a top 25 match up with host Arizona State on day two of the Arizona State/Grand Canyon Classic at Farrington Stadium.

The Scarlet Knights pounced early on the Aggies in game one and maintained the lead after New Mexico State came up with five runs midway thru.

Rutgers also took an early edge on No. 22/23 Arizona State with a Kayla Bock solo home run in the second, but the nationally-ranked Sun Devils used four home runs of their won for the win.

The Sun Devils are ranked No. 22 by USA Today/NFCA Poll,  No. 23 by ESPN/USA Softball, No. 24 by D1Softball.com and No. 25 by Softball America.

RU moved to 2-2 on the weekend and 15-9 overall.

Rutgers 11, New Mexico State 7

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Phoenix, Arizona native Taylor Fawcett was 4-for-4 with a double and home run totaling three RBIs and two runs.
• Classmate Payton Lincavage also posted a home run going 3-for-4 on the day with a pair of RBIs and two runs scored.
• Sophomore Kyleigh Sand also added three RBIs with a double.
• Freshman Lily Orozco scored her first collegiate run while Megan Herka, Kiersten Withstandley and Kobie Hura all contributed runs as well.
• Junior Jaden Vickers got the complete game, her second straight and sixth of the season. She registered five strikeouts to improve to 10-2.

THE RUNDOWN

• Taylor Fawcett kicked off her day giving Rutgers the lead five batters into the contest with an RBI double in the first. Payton Lincavage added another run in RU's first at-bat scoring off a New Mexico State miscue at third.
• The Scarlet Knights exploded for five runs extending its lead to 7-0 in the bottom of the third.  Lincavage kept the ball just right of the left-field foul pole for a two-run dinger and Kyleigh Sand knocked in three runs with two outs on a double to left-center.
• Four hits, including two Aggie home runs, in the top of the fourth cut into the Scarlet Knight lead, 7-5.  Back-to-back double led New Mexico State to get onto the scoreboard while Paige Knight had a straight-away three-run shot and Hannah Lindsay swung for a solo trip around the bases.
• Rutgers put the top half of the inning behind them and responded with a trio of runs when they returned to the plate. The Scarlet Knights went over the wall for a second time in the fourth with Fawcett going deep into left for two and Kiersten Withstandley sent home Lily Orozco finding the gap in right-center.
• Fawcett scored RU's final run of the contest in the fifth when Megan Herka drilled the ball down the right-field line.
• The Aggies were able to sneak in one last run in the seventh on an error a third.

No. 22/23 Arizona State 5, Rutgers 1

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• The Sun Devils were the second top 25 program RU has faced this season. The Scarlet Knights were edged 4-3  versus No. 23 Notre Dame last weekend at the Liberty Softball Invitational.
• Sophomore Kayla Bock knocked in her second home run and RU's 10^th of the 2022 campaign for RU's lone run against No. 22/23 Arizona State.
• Two-time All-Big Ten Rookie of the Week Maddie Lawson was 2-for-4 with a double against the Sun Devils' All-Pac-12 freshman Lindsay Lopez.
• Also collecting hits were sophomore Kyleigh Sand and redshirt junior Katie Wingert.
• Junior Ashley Hitchcock tossed a complete game striking out seven Sun Devils along the way.

THE RUNDOWN

• Kayla Bock hit a bomb to right-center putting Rutgers up 1-0 on the top 25 Sun Devils with two outs in the top of the second.
• Arizona State took the lead in the third and scored all five of its runs off home runs.
• In the third, a Yannira Acuna solo home run knotted the score at 1-1 and Jazmine Hill used a two-run hit over the fence in left to give the Sun Devils a 3-1 lead.
• Savannah Price added another solo long-distance ball to center in the fourth and Cydney Sanders led off the fifth with a solo shot to left.

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team wraps up the Arizona State/Grand Canyon Classic on Sunday meeting up once again with New Mexico State at 1 p.m. at Farrington Stadium on the ASU campus.

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