IOWA CITY, Iowa – Rutgers softball snapped an eight-game losing streak on Friday afternoon to open up the weekend series with Iowa at Bob Pearl Field. The 5-3 win over the Hawkeyes gave the Scarlet Knights its 31st victory over the season marking the most wins for the program since 1994.

Rutgers captured runs in the second, third and fourth with Taylor Fawcett driving in three of RU's four runs.

The victory gave Rutgers a 31-20 overall record and an 8-10 mark in the Big Ten. Iowa dropped to 28-22 overall with an identical 8-10 conference record.

Rutgers 5, Iowa 3

• Jaden Vickers went the distance to improve to 10-6 inside the circle. She struck out five and allowed only one walk.
• Taylor Fawcett collected three RBIs on a sac fly and her first triple of the year.
• Ryann Orange was 2-for-4, including a triple, with a pair of runs scored.
• Kyleigh Sand went 2-for-3 with an RBI and run, while Morgan Smith was 2-for-4 with a run batted in.

• Rutgers got out a bases-loaded jam in the bottom of the first before going on to score in the next three innings.
• Ryann Orange led off the second inning for the Scarlet Knights reaching the warning track in center for a stand-up triple. The rookie came home on the next batter on a sacrifice fly to right from the bat of Taylor Fawcett beating out the throw to home from the outfield.
• Kyleigh Sand kicked off the third hitting the ball up the middle stretching the hit into a double. After a sac bunt from Payton Lincavage moved Sand to third, the junior shortstop scored on a Morgan Smith single thru the infield to left field. Katie Wingert followed with a base hit with the two Scarlet Knights on board advancing on a wild pitch. Orange returned to the plate hitting the ball to first with the Hawkeyes able to prevent Smith from scoring on a rundown. Fawcett, however, delivered a triple to the wall in center to put two more runs on the scoreboard and a 4-0 Rutgers lead.
• Iowa put up a run in the bottom of the inning. The Hawkeyes put leadoff Brylee Klosterman onto the third on catcher's interference and a pair of base hits.  Denali Loecker hit a high fly ball to center giving Klosterman the opportunity to tag up and score.
• Sand tried to stretch out another hit into extra bases in the fourth. While Sand was caught trying to take third, pinch runner Kiersten Withstandley scored from first giving RU a 5-1 edge.
• Loecker hit another high fly ball for the Hawkeyes in the bottom of the sixth. This time, however, the ball sailed over the wall in center for a two-run home run as Iowa trailed 5-3 into the final inning.

• The Scarlet Knights reached double-figure hits for the 16th time in 2023 with 10 hits against the Hawkeyes. It is the most hits by RU since notching 10 in a 5-2 win over Maryland on April 5.
• Ryann Orange collected a triple for the second-straight series and third of the season. Taylor Fawcett, meanwhile, posted her first triple of the year and third of her career. Rutgers captured two triples for the third time this season. The Scarlet Knights had a pair of triples in the season-opening 8-0 win over Utah State on Feb. 10 and an 8-1 win over Saint Peter's during the Rutgers Tournament on March 17.
• It was the fourth game of the season Fawcett recorded three or more RBIs in a game and the most runs batted in single sending home four Scarlet Knights against North Dakota in a 16-1 victory on Mar 4 at the Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic.
• Jaden Vickers tossed her fourth complete game of the season and 17th of her career.

The series with Iowa continues at 3 p.m. (ET) at Bob Pearl Field.