FORT COLLINS, Colorado – The National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) games were back on after a one-day delay due to weather on Saturday. Rutgers softball powered out to a 5-0 lead in their opening-round contest with UC San Diego, however, the Tritons punched back in the later innings to take down the Scarlet Knights, 7-5.

Rutgers dropped to 25-29 with the loss in the double-elimination tournament.
 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Junior Payton Lincavage and sophomore Kayla Bock both collected home runs leading to an early 5-0 Scarlet Knight edge. Lincavage, who hit her fifth home run of the year, went 2-for-4 on the day with two RBIs. Bock, meanwhile, delivered a two-run blast, her fourth home run of the season.
• First Team All-Big and First Team All-Region selections Kyleigh Sand and Gabrielle Callaway along with junior Taylor Fawcett also collected runs in the loss.
• Nine different Scarlet Knights logged a hit as Rutgers captured double-digit hits for the 12th time this season.
• Junior Jaden Vickers got the starting nod tossing 5.1 innings and striking out five. Classmate Ashley Hitchcock took the loss dropping to 11-18 inside the circle allowing two runs on four hits while striking out three.

THE RUNDOWN

• Taylor Fawcett connected on the first of RU's 10 hits in the bottom of the second with a two-out double to center and then gave the Scarlet Knights a 1-0 lead coming on a Katie Wingert's single to right-center.
• Rutgers extended its lead in the third on a pair of home runs. Payton Lincavage went over the wall in right-center for a solo shot, while Kayla Bock lifted the ball over the 14er mountain portion of the fence in left field. Bock's blast also scored Gabrielle Callaway, who reached on a double, giving a 4-0 advantage to RU.
• Kyleigh Sand rounded the bases for her team-leading 49th run of the year putting the Scarlet Knights up 5-0 at the end of four innings. RU put together three-straight base hits culminating in Lincavage's chopper to short allowing Sand to score from second base.
• UC San Diego, however, came back with four runs in the fifth and two runs in the sixth for the lead and added an insurance run in its final at-bat.
  In the fifth, the Tritons collected five hits with the top of the order driving in runs. Deena Pederson had an RBI single thru the left side and a three-run home run from the bat of Bobbi Aguirre narrowed RU's lead to one, 5-4.
• The opposition took advantage of the bases being loaded with two outs in the sixth as Pederson drove in two more runs sending the ball thru the infield for a 6-5 Triton lead.
• UCSD's Isabel Lavrov opened the seventh with a solo home run putting her squad up 7-5.

UP NEXT

Rutgers softball will play UNLV on Monday, May 23 at 3:30 p.m. (ET) in the super regional elimination bracket of the NISC. 

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