CATHEDRAL CITY, Calif. – Rutgers softball kicked off its appearance at the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic with a pair of wins in a 14-7 win over Hawaii to open and a 7-5 victory in the nightcap with UC Riverside.

The Scarlet Knights overcame a 6-1 deficit in game one to bounce back against the Rainbow for a seven-run margin of victory behind 14 hits and Georgia Ingle's first victory of the 2024 season.

Game two saw UC Riverside with an early 1-0 after the Highlander's first at-bat before RU scored four runs in their first plate appearance to take the lead and stay ahead.

The two wins improved the Scarlet Knights to 8-4 on the year.
 

Rutgers 14, Hawaii 7

• Georgia Ingle picked up her first win of the 2024 campaign in five innings of work with a trio of strikeouts
• Kayla Bock was a perfect 4-for-4 at the plate delivering five RBIs to tie her career high. Bock also had five runs batted in against George Washington in a 9-8 victory back on March 6, 2022. 
• Morgan Smith provided a two-run home run and ended the game 3-for-5 with three runs scored.
• Katie Wingert blasted her seventh home run of the season and moves four home runs closer to tying the Rutgers all-time home run record.
• Payton Lincavage finished 2-for-4 with an RBI and two runs scored.
• Kyleigh Sand's stolen base moved the Scarlet Knight into third all-time in the category at Rutgers.

• Hawaii got on the board with three hits in the top of the first to take a 1-0 lead and added three runs in the second off three hits for a 4-0 edge.
• Katie Wingert provided the Scarlet Knights with their first run of the afternoon connecting for a solo home run on her first pitch. 
• In the bottom of the third, Morgan Smith cut Hawaii's lead to 6-3 with a two-run blast scoring Kyleigh Sand. The bases were then loaded for Kayla Bock to drive in two more runs for the Scarlet Knights with a line drive right back to the circle to put the Scarlet Knights within one.
• Another hard-hit ball from Bock in the infield gave Rutgers a 7-6 lead in the bottom of the fifth.
• Hawaii was able to tie the game at 7-7 in the sixth on an RBI single by Jaime McGaughey, but Rutgers jumped right back in front firing off seven runs in their return to the plate. Payton Lincavage drove in two runs, while Bock and Lauren Punk both had RBI base hits while Katie Wingert and LA Matthews each walked in runs.

Rutgers 7, UC Riverside 5

• Payton Lincavage connected on her first home run of the 2024 campaign with a two-run shot in RU's four-run first inning. The dinger moved her into the top 10 at Rutgers.
• Morgan Smith also added  two RBIs including a sac fly. 
• Kayla Bock was 2-for-3 to to finish her day going 7-for-8 from the plate.
• Leilani Chavez went 2-for-3 with an RBI.

• UC Riverside's Nadia Witt opened up play leading off with a home run for the early 1-0 Highlander lead.
• Rutgers, however, came back with four runs in their first plate appearance and stayed ahead the rest of the way. Morgan Smith doubled to centerfield to drive in Kyleigh Sand to knot the score at 1-1 while an error at first base allowed Smith to put RU up 2-1. Payton Lincavage then connected on her first home run of the 2024 campaign with a two-run shot in RU's four-run first inning.
• Smith helped to tack on another run in the second off a sac fly to center.  
• Rutgers plated two more in the third. Maddie Lawson found the gap in left-center for an RBI double and then came home on a Leilani Chavez chopper to short.
• The Highlanders closed the gap with a pair of runs in the fifth and seventh. In the fifth, Witt sent in a run of a sac fly to right with Kat Montuya following up on an infield single. Montuya followed up with a two-run single thru the left side in the seventh but the side was retired before the Highlanders drew any closer. 

• Day two action of the Mary Nutter Collegiate Classic will have the Scarlet Knights face LMU at 1 p.m. (ET) and Cal Poly at 4 p.m. (ET) on Friday.