CHAPEL HILL, N.C. – The Rutgers softball team kicked off the Mizuno Invitational on Friday morning with a 7-1 victory over Lafayette.

The win improved the Scarlet Knights to 11-6 overall.

Rutgers 7, Lafayette 1

• Rutgers reached double-figure hits for the sixth time this season.
• Jillian Anderson, Kyleigh Sand and Leilani Chavez were all 2-for-2 in the game. Anderson plated a pair of runs, Chavez scored one and Sand registered an RBI.
• Payton Lincavage also scored twice.
• Lauren Punk collected a two-RBI double.
• Laurelai DePew garnered her first start as a Scarlet Knight while Georgia Ingle got the win. Both pitchers struck out two along the way.

• Mebane, North Carolina native Maddie Lawson, playing in front of hometown friends and family, got the scoring started for the Scarlet Knights in the bottom of the second. Her single to shallow right brought home Payton Lincavage from third for the game's first run. Two more runs followed with the next two at-bats. Leilani Chavez smacked the ball up the middle to bring home Jillian Anderson and Kyleigh Sand recorded a sac fly to left for the 3-0 RU advantage.
• The Leopards got out of a jam in the third. The Scarlet Knights loaded the bases, but Lafayette kept Rutgers off the scoreboard making a double play on a line drive to first.
• Morgan Smith tacked on an RBI in the fourth. Although the Scarlet Knight grounded out to first, the bases were loaded and Chavez scored for the 4-0 Rutgers lead.
• Rutgers was able to leave the Leopards stranded on all three bases in the top of the fifth. Georgia Ingle retired the side catching the opponents swinging.
• The Scarlet Knights added three more in the fifth. Lauren Punk collected a two-run double to right-center and later scored on a Megan Herka single extending RU's lead to 7-0.
• The Leopards thwarted the shutout in their final at-bat. Lafayette led off with a Megan Coyle double and the Leopard reached third on a miscue in the outfield. Paige Sandidge flew out to center, but Coyle was able to tag up and reach home for Lafayette's lone run of the game.

The Rutgers softball team plays two in the Mizuno Invitational on Saturday, March 2. The Scarlet Knights meet host UNC at 11 a.m. and 2023 Big South Champion Campbell at 1:30 p.m.