LYNCHBURG, Va. -- Rutgers softball went 1-1 on the final day of the Liberty Softball Invitational on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights forced extra innings with No. 23 Notre Dame falling 4-3 in nine innings and captured a 9-8 come from behind victory against George Washington.

RU tied its contest with Notre Dame twice before the Fighting Irish took the win on a ninth inning sacrifice fly. Against George Washington, the Colonials came back from a 6-0 deficit for an 8-6 lead, but Kayla Bock's first home run of the season was a three-run blast in the seventh to lift the Scarlet Knights back into win column. 

Rutgers concluded the weekend upping its overall mark to 13-7 overall and went 2-3 during the weekend. Three of the Scarlet Knights' four opponents during the Liberty Softball Invitational were either ranked or receiving votes in this week's polls.

No. 23 Notre Dame 4, Rutgers 3 - 9 innings

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Rutgers was looking for its first win over a nationally-ranked opponent since 2012 forcing Notre Dame to nine innings. The Fighting Irish are ranked No. 23 by Softball America.
• Taylor Fawcett was 2-for-4 with a run and Kiersten Withstandley hit 1-for-2 with two RBIs. 
• Kayla Bock also went 1-for-2 with an RBI and run scored. 
• Ashley Hitchcock tossed all nine innings allowing two earned runs and striking out a trio of Fighting Irish in the loss. 

THE RUNDOWN

• Notre Dame went 1-0 in the first off an RBI double by Sarah Genz down the left-field line. 
• Rutgers tied up the game in the bottom of the second. Taylor Fawcett led off with an infield single and was brought home by Kayla Bock with two outs on a single to right. 
• The Fighting Irish put up runs in the third and fourth for a 3-1 edge. Emma Clark tripled in the third and scored on an error. In the fourth, Karina Gaskins opened the inning with a home run to center. 
• The Scarlet Knights, however, put up two runs in the bottom of the fourth to tie up the game for a second time and knot the score at 3-3. Katie Wingert doubled and Bock was hit by a pitch to put two on base setting up Kiersten Withstandley to belt a two-RBI double into left-center. 
• The game went into extra innings with the Notre Dame using a sacrifice fly in the top of the ninth for the game-winning run. 

KNIGHT NOTES

• It was RU's first extra innings loss of 2022. Rutgers fell to 3-1 in extra inning contests.
• The Scarlet Knights' last top 25 victory was a 1-0 victory over No. 21/22 Florida State back on March 18, 2012

Rutgers 9, George Washington 8

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Rutgers took a 6-0 lead by the middle of the second inning, but George Washington battled back to go ahead 8-6 behind a six-run fourth inning. 
• Kayla Bock, however, lifted the Scarlet Knights to the come from behind victory behind a three-run home run in the top the seventh. Bock finished the game 2-for-5 with five RBIs. 
• Taylor Fawcett ended the afternoon 2-for-3 with two runs and two RBIs. 
• Ashley Hitchcock was credited with the win inside the circle to up her overall record to 5-5 on the year. She pitched 3.1 innings with five strikeouts. 

THE RUNDOWN

• Rutgers took advantage of the bases being loaded in the first. Taylor Fawcett walked home Maddie Lawson for the early 1-0 lead. 
• The Scarlet Knights' offense busted open five hits, including four doubles, to extend its advantage to 6-0. Kyleigh Sand and Lawson had back-to-back RBI doubles to left-center, Taylor Fawcett added an RBI single to center and Kayla Bock went to right-center for an extra-base hit. 
• George Washington got onto the score in the third. Three-consecutive hits included RBI singles from Lange and Mia Williams. 
• The Colonials then exploded for six runs in the fourth to take the lead, 8-6. George Washington connected for seven hits, including a three-run home run from Alexa Williams and a two-run shot from Parker. 
• Rutgers, however, battled back in their final at-bat. Payton Lincavage walked and Fawcett reached on a single to left setting up Bock to power in three runs going over the fence in left. 

LIBERTY INVITE KNIGHT NOTES

• Kayla Bock finished the Liberty Invitational hitting .364 (4-for-11) with a double and home run. She scored two runs and collected six RBIs.
• Taylor Fawcett batted .357 (5-for-14) with four RBIs and three runs scored.
• Ashley Hitchcock led the pitching corps with four appearances and two starts throwing 16.0 innings. She went 1-2 on the weekend with eight strikeouts.
• Jaden Vickers collected 13 strikeouts on the weekend upping her career total to 164. She needs eight more to crack Rutgers' career top 10.

UP NEXT

The Rutgers softball team takes to the road again and heads to the Arizona State/Grand Canyon Classic on March 11-13. The Scarlet Knights will take on BYU, New Mexico State and Ball State along with hosts Arizona State and Grand Canyon.

Follow Rutgers softball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.