GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Rutgers softball fell in both its contests on day two of the Bubly Invitational at Pressly Stadium.  The Scarlet Knights were edged 3-2 against Mercer and dropped a 5-0 contest to No. 24 Louisiana.

RU dropped to 17-7 on the season heading into the final day of tournament action on Sunday.

Mercer 3, Rutgers 2

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Morgan Smith registered her third home run of the season with a two-run long ball in the first also scoring Ryann Orange.
• Orange and Megan Herka both finished the opening game 2-for-3.
• Raimy Gamsby dropped to 5-2 inside the circle. The freshman Scarlet Knight tossed 4.1 innings allowing three runs on four hits while striking out six.

THE RUNDOWN

• It only took five pitches for the Scarlet Knights to take the lead as Morgan Smith belted a two-run shot to center to kick off the day.
• Mercer generated its first hits of the game in the bottom of the fourth and scored a run. Leadoff Rebeca Laudino singled on a bunt and reached third on a double to right field from Kylie Helm. Bailey Leduina reached the warning track in left-center with Smith making the catch, but Laudino was able to tag and score.
• The Bears took the lead the following inning. Barton led off the bottom of the fifth with a shot just inside the left field foul pole and over the wall bringing the score to 2-2. Mercer managed to load the bases afterward on three consecutive singles with a run scoring off a wild pitch for the 3-2 advantage.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Kyleigh Sand's on-base streak was halted at 58. She was one game shy of tying the Big Ten record of 59 set by Adrienne Monka of Northwestern in 2011-12. Sand last failed to reach on back on March 6, 2022, against Notre Dame in a 4-3 nine-inning loss.
• With four strikeouts in relief, Jaden Vickers picked up her 300th career strikeout. Vickers is currently sixth on the all-time strikeout leaders list. 

No. 24 Louisiana 5, Rutgers 0

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING

• Morgan Smith fell to 2-2 on the season. In the start, Smith gave up four runs on five hits with a pair of strikeouts. Georgia Ingle finished the final three innings giving up one run on two hits.\
• Leilani Chavez and Taylor Fawcett collected both of RU's hits in game two.

THE RUNDOWN

• Louisiana took the lead in the first as Mihyia Davis led off with the first of her squad's seven hits on the evening later scoring on a base hit by Karly Heath.
• Lauren Allred added a two-run double in the second giving the Ragin' Cajuns a 3-0 lead.
• A wild pitch tacked on another run for Louisiana in the third.
  In the fourth, the Ragin' Cajuns took a 4-0 edge on a sacrifice fly allowing Kylie Griffin to score. Griffin walked and reached third after a miscue allowed the Ragin' Cajun to steal second and advance before tagging up on the flyout.
• Rutgers had runners in scoring position in the first and fifth. Leadoff Kyleigh Sand started a new on-base streak with a walk and got to third before the bottom half of the opening inning concluded. The fifth saw base hits from Leilani Chavez and Taylor Fawcett, but the Scarlet Knights were left on second and third.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Kyleigh Sand moved into a tie for sixth on the career stolen base list with 45 steals. She needs seven more to move into a tie for fourth alongside All-American Carla Camino (1990-93) and ten more to tie Loren Williams (2013-14) for third.

UP NEXT

Rutgers softball concluded the Bubly Invitational on Sunday. The Scarlet Knights face host No. 8/10 Florida. The game time has been moved back to 2 p.m. from its original noon start.

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