PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers softball kicked off Big Ten action on Friday afternoon at the RU Softball Complex claiming a 6-1 victory over Ohio State and will resume action in game two on Sunday after the two teams were deadlocked at 8-8 entering the top of the 10th with darkness halting action.

In the opening game, Payton Lincavage posted a pair of home runs as RU kept the Buckeyes off the scoreboard until the seventh.

In game two, RU played out to a 6-0 lead at the end of three but Ohio State halved its deficit with three runs in the fourth. While the Scarlet Knights tacked on a run in the fifth for a 7-3 edge, the Buckeyes scored five runs on hits in the sixth to take an 8-7 lead. Morgan Smith, however, re-entered the game to lead off the sixth inning with a solo home run to knot the score at 8-8 where the score remained until darkness halted play at the end of nine played.

Rutgers 6, Ohio State 1

• Payton Lincavage belted a pair of home runs for a trio of RBIs. With her two runs scored, Lincavage moves into a tie for third all-time in career runs at Rutgers with 138 and her three runs batted in helped the graduate student crack RU's all-time top 10 with 104 RBIs. Lincavage's two home runs also moved her into a tie for seventh all-time with 21 career Scarlet Knight dingers.
• Morgan Smith got the win in the circle striking out five Buckeyes in 6.1 innings of work to improve to 7-4. She also added two runs and an RBI triple, her fourth of the season.
• Katie Wingert delivered a double and run scored.

• Rutgers opened scoring in the second. Katie Wingert collected a double to left-center and came home as Kayla Bock singled down the right-field line.
• The Scarlet Knights plated two more in the third. Payton Lincavage smacked the first of her two home runs with a two-run shot to center for a 3-0 RU advantage.
• RU rang up three more runs in the fifth. Morgan Smith knocked in LA Matthews on a triple to right field and scored on a wild pitch while Lincavage belted a solo shot – her second home run of the afternoon – over the wall in left.
• The Buckeyes thwarted the shutout in the seventh. Ohio State loaded the bases on a double, walk and hit by pitch setting up Destinee Noury for an infield single to score Taylor Cruse.

Rutgers 8, Ohio State 8 - Suspended 

• Rutgers went up 6-0 after three innings of play.
• It was a 2-0 Scarlet Knight lead at the end of two. Leilani Chavez led off with a walk and Kayla Bock made it two aboard with a double. A Maddie Lawson sacrifice fly scored Chavez for the game's first run and Kyleigh Sand collected an RBI with a single to center in scoring Bock.
• RU added four more runs in the third. The bases were loaded when Bock was hit by a pitch to send in Morgan Smith and Lawson garnered three more RBIs clearing the bases on a double to center.
• Ohio State got onto the scoreboard in the fourth on a Kami Kortokrax two-run double to left-center and scoring on a Taylor Heckman single through the left side to halve its deficit to 6-3.
• The Scarlet Knights tacked on a run in the fifth. Lawson kicked RU's at-bat off with a double to left. reached third on a Jillian Anderson sac bunt and scored on a Sand sac fly to left.
• The Buckeyes, however, took the lead in the sixth with five runs on five hits. Ohio State loaded the bases with no outs, but RU was able to turn a double play to keep the Buckeyes at bay. OSU entered Sam Hackenbract to collect an RBI single and Jasmyn Burns followed with an RBI infield single. While RU still led, 7-5, Destinee Noury used a three-run home run to left to give the visitors its first lead of the day.
• Rutgers tied the game up in the bottom half of the sixth leading off with a Smith solo home run to right-center.
• The score remained tied at 8-8 entering the top 10 when darkness crept into the complex halting play until Sunday.

• Game two will resume at noon on Sunday, March 24 with the score tied at 8-8 entering the top of the 10th. The game three series finale will start approximately 30 minutes after the completion of game two. Admission to all home games is free. Fans can click here to register for parking.