Rutgers softball defeats Michigan State in weekend series, sets program records
The Rutgers softball team won its fifth Big Ten series of the season, winning 2 of 3 games against Michigan State this weekend. The Scarlet Knights (31-20, 12-8) are continuing to set themselves up for a successful postseason after another series win on the road.
Game one: Rutgers wins 3-0
Rutgers opened the series with a Friday night game against the Spartans (17-30, 4-16).
The game was a stalemate until the seventh, as the Knights scored 3 runs.
Senior pitcher and outfielder Morgan Smith got the win in the circle for Rutgers, throwing four strikeouts and allowing only one hit in five innings. Smith kept Michigan State at bay in the bottom of the seventh, securing the shutout.
The Knights recorded their 30th win of the season and secured back-to-back 30-win seasons for the first time in program history.
Game two: Rutgers wins 9-4
Rutgers continued its success on Saturday, capturing its 12th Big Ten win of the season, the most in the team's history since joining the conference.
Senior shortstop Kyleigh Sand hit the record books herself, becoming the Knights' sole single-season runs leader with a program-high 59 runs scored.
Rutgers got out to a 2-0 lead after the first two innings, but the Spartans responded with a solo homer from Hannah Hawley in the third and a 2-run single to take the lead.
Sand got the Knights back to a tied game with a solo shot and a double steal, giving them the 4-3 lead.
At the end of six, Rutgers was up 7-4. The Knights added a couple of runs for insurance in the final frame. Rutgers recorded 16 hits in the win and graduate student utility player LA Matthews led with three runs batted in (RBI).
Game three: Rutgers loses 4-1
The Knights fell in the series finale on Sunday and were nearly shut out by Michigan State.
The Spartans started off hot, scoring a run in each of the opening three innings.
Graduate student catcher Katie Wingert laced a ball to left field, bringing in Sand for the lone run for Rutgers in the sixth. With the hit, Wingert collected her 146th RBI, a program-high.
Michigan State added another run in the bottom of the inning to seal the 4-1 win, as the Knights could not get the bats going.
Rutgers will return to the Rutgers Softball Complex on Livingston campus on Friday at 3 p.m. to host Penn State in the final regular-season series of the year. Saturday’s game will begin at 3 p.m., and Sunday’s will begin at 1 p.m., with all three games being broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
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