Rutgers softball looks to build off hot 8-2 start in Low Country Classic this weekend
The Rutgers softball team will travel to Charleston, South Carolina, this week for the Low Country Classic. The Scarlet Knights (8-2, 0-0) will face Robert Morris University, College of Charleston and Syracuse University.
During the Mardi Gras Classic this past weekend in Alabama, Rutgers won 3 of 5 games. The Knights were able to gain victories against Missouri State and Mississippi State Valley but dropped both games to South Alabama at the end of the series.
Rutgers had a great opening to the tournament, where it beat the Bears (3-6, 0-0) with a final score of 8-1. Following their one game against Missouri State, the Knights then showed up to defeat the Devils (0-8, 0-0) in both their games.
Rutgers dominated Mississippi State Valley in a 16-1 blowout. Multiple Knights players picked up runs during the game, and a cohesive team effort was seen throughout the game, which led to Rutgers gaining another win against the Devils the next day of the tournament. The Knights held Mississippi State Valley to just five hits over both contests.
At the end of the tournament, Rutgers fell to South Alabama in back-to-back games. The Knights were unable to bring home many runs during these two games, which gave the Jaguars (6-4, 0-0) the advantage of putting runs on the board. Rutgers lost 4-1 to South Alabama on Saturday and was shutout 4-0 on Sunday.
Junior pitcher Morgan Smith, senior pitcher Ashley Hitchcock and junior shortstop Kyleigh Sand were named to the Mardi Gras All-Tournament Team. This trio stuck out during the games last weekend and are seemingly some of the team’s key players.
During the tournament, Smith had four doubles, 5 runs and a batting average of .357, along with five run batted ins (RBI). Smith appeared inside the circle against the Jaguars where she struck out 3 over 4 frames.
Hitchcock also appeared as a pitcher during the tournament against the Bears and the Devils, where she struck out 11 different players in total. Hitchcock only let Missouri State score 1 run while denying any runs from Mississippi State Valley.
Sand ended the tournament with an average of .500, along with 6 runs, two RBIs and 11 putouts on the diamond. Sand has a total of 37 stolen bases with the Knights and only needs one more base stolen to be tied for seventh place on the Rutgers All-Time list. She was also awarded Big Ten Player of the Week for the second consecutive week.
To begin the tournament, the Knights will first face the Colonials (2-2, 0-0) on Friday morning, which will be Rutgers' only game against Robert Morris in the tournament. The Knights have won 3 of the 4 games that have previously been played against the Colonials.
Following that matchup, Rutgers will come head-to-head with the Cougars (2-6, 0-0), the host of the tournament, in Charleston, South Carolina, for games on Friday and Saturday. The Knights haven't competed against the College of Charleston since 2014, when they grabbed an 11-3 victory.
Rutgers will also compete against the Orange (3-4, 0-0) on Saturday and Sunday. It last met up with Syracuse in 2020, losing the game 11-4. The Knights don’t have many wins against the Orange, as they have only won 7 out of 24 games played against the team.
Rutgers will first compete against Robert Morris at 10 a.m. on Friday morning in Charleston, South Carolina. The Knights' match against the Cougars will be available to stream on FloSoftball with a start time of 3 p.m. later on Friday. The remainder of their games will continue throughout the course of the weekend, and the stats will be available on statbroadcast.com for each contest.
