SACRAMENTO, Calif. --  Rutgers softball opened up the 2023 campaign on Friday afternoon picking up a pair of victories in day one of the NorCal Kickoff at Shea Stadium on the campus of Sacramento State.

The Scarlet Knights downed Utah Valley 8-0 and followed with an 8-2 victory over Santa Clara to 

Rutgers 8, Utah Valley 0

 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Morgan Smith got the win in her Scarlet Knight debut. The junior transfer tossed 5.0 innings allowing only three hits and catching six Wolverines swinging at the plate. Outside the circle, Smith was 2-for-4 with a run scored and an RBI as one of three Scarlet Knights to record two hits.
• At the plate, Rutgers racked up 13 hits with Katie Winger going 2-for-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs.
• Ryann Orange earned a double and two RBIs in her first Rutgers outing, while Payton Lincavage posted a triple to move her up the all-time triple list.
• Kyleigh Sand and Maddie Lawson were also responsible for a pair of runs.

THE RUNDOWN

• Katie Wingert drove in the first run of the year with an 0-2 count single to second scoring leadoff Kyleigh Sand in the top of the first.
• Ryann Orange's first career double added to the RU lead in the fourth. Maddie Lawson reached on a fielder's choice and Taylor Fawcett doubled to left center to put a pair of Scarlet Knights in scoring position. Orange smacked a 2-2 pitch into left center driving in the pair giving extending RU's lead to 3-0.
• Rutgers added a pair of runs in the fifth. Kyleigh Sand led off with a base hit to shallow left center and in the scramble for the ball and an errant throw, made her way to third. The junior came home on a Payton
• Lincavage triple, her sixth career triple to move into a tie for seventh on the RU all-time list. Morgan Smith followed dropping the ball into center for the RBI and a 5-0 Scarlet Knight lead.
• Four hits including three doubles and a triple led to three more runs in the seventh. Smith reached on a double to deep left scoring as Wingert added in her second RBI on a triple landing along the right-field line. Pinch hitter Kayla Back made it back-to-back extra-base hits with an RBI double to left-center and Taylor Lane entered to deliver an RBI double as well.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Payton Lincavage moved into a tie for seventh on the all-time Rutgers career triples list along with Sarah Kalka (2006-09) as she up her career count to six. She needs two more to move into a tie for sixth along with Rebecca Hall (2015-18). 
• Rutgers totaled six doubles tying for the most in a game dating back to records since 2004. The Scarlet Knights also had six two-base hits last season against UMES (3/17/2022) as well as Brown (3/5/2011) and UC Santa Barbara (2/28/2015). 
• It was the first season-opening victory for the Scarlet Knights since 2012.

Rutgers 8, Santa Clara 2

 

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• The top of the lineup, Kyleigh Sand, was 3-for-3 with a run scored, an RBI, and four stolen bases while the bottom of the lineup, Ryann Orange, hit 2-for-3 with a double and two-run home run, run scored while pitching the final inning.
• Along with Orange, Morgan Smith and Maddie Lawson had two RBIs apiece, with Lawson hitting 2-for-3.
• Jaden Vickers earned the victory inside the circle with 3.2 innings of work. She allowed only one hit while striking out four in her first win of the year.

THE RUNDOWN

• It was another early-inning lead for the Scarlet Knights. Morgan Smith delivered a single thru the left side to score leadoff Kyleigh Sand in the bottom of the first.
  Santa Clara countered in the top of the second. A miscue with two outs allowed runners from second and third to give the Broncos a 2-1 lead.
• The opposition's lead did not last long as RU responded with two runs on three hits in their return to the plate. Kayla Bock opened up hitting in the bottom of the second with a single to short and Ryann Orange followed with a double to put runners in scoring position. Kyleigh Sand captured an RBI single to center and Payton Lincavage notched a sacrifice fly to put RU back in front at 3-2.   
• The Scarlet Knights added a pair of in the fifth extending their lead to 5-2. After Payton Lincavage and Smith reached on with fielder's choices, Maddie Lawson drove in both Scarlet Knights with two outs on a base hit to center.
• In the sixth, Ryann Orange blasted the first home run of the year for RU, a two-run shot over the wall in left-center, and Payton Lincavage put away a sac fly to right field capping a three-run inning.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Kyleigh Sand's four stolen bases are the most by a Scarlet Knight in records dating back to 2004. Sand's four thefts were the most since fellow teammate Taylor Lane's three against Texas A&M Corpus Christi back on March 1, 2020. 

UP NEXT

NorCal Kickoff action continues on Saturday,  Feb. 11 in Davis, California with the Scarlet Knights taking on Seattle at 12:30 p.m. (ET) and host UC Davis at 3:00 p.m. (ET).

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