PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers softball got the series win over Ohio State on Sunday as the Scarlet Knights came back from game two to take an 8-6 win in the finale.

Game two picked up in the top of the 10th with the score knotted at 8-8 after play was halted on Friday due to darkness. The Scarlet Knights, however, were unable to overcome the Buckeye's three runs to open the day ultimately falling 11-9 in 10 innings despite two home runs from Morgan Smith and a career-high four RBIs from Maddie Lawson in the game.

RU rebounded with an 8-6 victory in the finale to earn the series win in their first Big Ten weekend as Katie Wingert moved closer to becoming the Scarlet Knights' all-time home runs leader, Smith belted her third round-tripper of the series and Mattie Boyd rang up 10 Buckeyes on strikes in a complete game victory.

Rutgers closes out the series moving to 20-13 overall and 2-1 in Big Ten play. 

Ohio State 11, Rutgers 9 - 10 innings

• Morgan Smith hit 3-for-5 with two home runs, two RBIs and three runs scored. The senior Scarlet Knights, however, picked up the loss dropping to 7-5. She tossed 3.1 innings giving up one earned run on five hits.
• Maddie Lawson went 2-for-4 with a pair of doubles and collected a career-high four RBIs.
• Kyleigh Sand was 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
• Kayla Bock provided a double, RBI and two runs scored.

• 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.

• Ohio State opened up play in the top of the 10th generating three runs on a hit and error to take a 11-8 lead. With the bases loaded, Jasmyn Burns walked in a run. While RU prevented another Buckeye run from plating on the force at home with the next at-bat, OSU walked again and a passed ball put the visitors up 11-8.
• Morgan Smith led off the bottom of the 10th notching her second home run of the contest and her 10th of the season, but it would be all the scoring the Scarlet Knights would get as the Buckeyes tied up the series. 

Rutgers 8, Ohio State 6

• Katie Wingert moved closer to becoming RU's all-time home runs leader with a solo shot to lead off the second inning for her ninth long ball of the year. She now has 38 career home runs in her career "On The Banks" and needs two more to tie the all-time record and three to break.
• Morgan Smith added three RBIs and her 11th home run of the 2024 campaign.
• Mattie Boyd moved to 11-6 on the year in her 10th complete game. Her 10 strikeouts mark her second double-digit effort of the season, one shy of matching her career high.

• Ohio State struck first in the top of the second as back-to-back infield miscues allowed the Buckeyes to reach and a Kirsten Eppele sac fly to push across the game's first run.
• It did not take long for Rutgers to tie the game up. Katie Wingert led off the bottom of the inning going over the left field wall.
• The Scarlet Knights exploded for six runs in the third. Kyleigh Sand led off the bottom half with a walk and came home on an LA Matthews triple to center while Mogan Smith followed with a two-run home run to left. Four batters later the bases were loaded and RU generated runs with their next three batters. Maddie Lawson registered a hard hit to the circle for an RBI, Bailey Briggs posted her first conference hit with an RBI single to left and Sand returned to the plate for a sac fly altogether giving RU a 7-1 edge.
• The Buckeyes countered with four runs on three hits in their return to the plate in the fourth. Back-to-back doubles by Kami Kortokrax and McKenzie Bump gave OSU its first run of the inning while Eppele hit a three-run shot to left for the Buckeyes to trail 7-5.
• Both squads added a run in the sixth. Church had a solo home run to left for the Buckeyes, while the Scarlet Knights led off with a Kyleigh Sand double and plated the senior on a sac fly to left by Smith.

• Both Morgan Smith and Maddie Lawson hit .556 (5-for-9) on the weekend. Smith totaled three home runs, a double, a triple, six RBIs and six runs scored while holding a 1.889 slugging percentage. Lawson collected two doubles and five RBIs.
• Smith went 1-1 in the circle with a 1.45 ERA giving up only two earned runs while striking out five in 9.2 innings of work.
• Mattie Boyd made three appearances collecting the complete-game victory for the series win. In her 13.1 innings, she sent down 16 Buckeyes on strikes.

• Rutgers softball is back on the road for a three-game series at Purdue starting on Friday, March. 29.