Rutgers softball tosses no-hitter, wins 2 games at Panther Invitational
The Rutgers softball team started and finished its trip to the Panther Invitational with wins. The Scarlet Knights (6-4, 0-0) sandwiched three losses in between two victories against Army.
Day one
Rutgers split day one of the invitational, starting off with a 2-0 win against the Black Knights (0-10, 0-0) and a 4-1 loss to Duke.
The Knights opened up their day with a strong outing from fifth-year pitcher Mattie Boyd. Boyd threw a no-hitter for Rutgers, collecting her third complete-game of the season. She racked up nine strikeouts and walked just two batters in her seven innings.
While Boyd kept Army scoreless, graduate student catcher Katie Wingert and redshirt junior outfielder Jillian Anderson were responsible for the Knights' two runs.
Wingert and Anderson hit back-to-back doubles in the first inning, knocking in the only two runs of the game.
Rutgers then took the field for game two, this time, against the Blue Devils (8-1, 0-0).
The Knights struck first with a solo shot from Wingert in the second inning, giving them an early 1-0 lead.
No. 10 Duke was able to tie the game in the fifth with a homer from Kelly Torres.
The Blue Devils found their stride again in the final frame, scoring three runs aided in part by two errors from Rutgers. The Knights could not answer in the bottom of the seventh inning, and they fell 4-1.
Amiah Burgess led the charge for Duke, finishing with two runs batted in (RBI).
Day two
Rutgers took on FIU on day two of the Invitational, dropping the doubleheader.
Senior outfielder and pitcher Morgan Smith got things started for the Knights, hitting a two-run home run in the first inning.
The Panthers (6-5, 0-0) evened the score in the second, taking advantage of a pair of errors from Rutgers.
FIU took the lead in the third off of an RBI single, but the Knights battled back to tie it again in the fifth courtesy of a base hit by graduate student utility player LA Matthews that brought in a run.
The Panthers would come out on top, though, with a bases-loaded sacrifice fly from Casey Goguts in the bottom of the sixth inning. Rutgers fell 4-3 in game one.
The Knights then suffered their third loss in a row, dropping the latter half of the doubleheader to FIU.
Smith was in the circle for the second game of the day, throwing a complete game and scoring the two lone runs for Rutgers.
Smith homered to center field in the first and scored on a wild pitch in the sixth, but it was not enough for the Knights to come out on top, falling 3-2 to the Panthers.
Day three
Rutgers snagged another win on the final day of the Panther Invitational, once again, against the Black Knights.
The Knights overwhelmed Army, completing a mercy-rule victory in five innings. Wingert put on a show once again, going 3 for 3 with two RBI.
It was a complete team win for Rutgers, as seven different Knights recorded a hit en route to a 9-0 victory.
Rutgers will be back on the field at the Mary Nutter Tournament on Thursday. The Knights will travel to Cathedral City, California, for the tournament.
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