Another weekend, another good showing at a regional softball tournament, as Rutgers went 4-1 at the College of Charleston Low Country Classic.

The Scarlet Knights pounded Robert Morris University in their opening game of the tournament, which set the tone for the weekend.

Tied with the Colonials 1-1 after four frames, the Knights went on an extra-bases hitting display in the fifth and sixth innings, rolling up two doubles by Lauren Punk and Katie Wingert and two home runs from Ryann Orange and Morgan Smith. That offensive explosion put the game out of reach, 10-1, allowing Ashley Hitchcock to take the win in relief to improve her season record to 4-0. Dana Vatakis took the loss for the Colonials.

In their second game, the Scarlet Knights took on the tournament hosts, the College of Charleston Cougars.

With the game scoreless through three innings, Rutgers finally broke through with the first tally of the contest, manufacturing a run in the fourth when Morgan Smith reached base on a fielder’s choice. After moving over on a single and tagging up, Smith found herself on third with two outs. At that point, the junior stole home to give the Knights the lead, 1-0.

RBI singles by Kiersten Withstandley in the fifth and Orange in the sixth extended the RU advantage to 3-0.

That lead, combined with a gem from pitcher Raimy Gamsby locked down the Knights’ second win in as many games. Gamsby was excellent, surrendering just two hits in seven innings of work, while striking out seven. It was the third shutout for the Scarlet Knights on the season. Drayton Siegling took the loss for the Cougars.

If there was a down point for the weekend, it came in a disappointing extra-innings loss to the Syracuse Orange in the early game on Saturday.

With Smith in the circle for Rutgers, Syracuse struck first as the junior pitcher surrendered a run in the top of the second inning. However, the Knights quickly responded in the bottom of the inning when senior Payton Lincavage worked the count to 3-2 before smacking an RBI double to left that scored Orange with the tying run. The game stayed knotted at 1-1 through seven innings, until freshman infielder Ryan Starr scored on a throwing error, saddling Gamsby with the loss in relief, 2-1. Senior Kaia Oliver took the win for Syracuse.

But there would be no time to sulk, as the Knights were right back at it for a second game versus the College of Charleston.

Rutgers opened the scoring with four runs in the top of the first with back-to-back homers from Orange and Wingert. But Orange would return two runs to the Cougars while pitching in the bottom of the frame which cut the RU lead in half, 4-2.

With Jaden Vickers then replacing Orange in the circle, the bats of the Cougars were not as productive, as they managed just one run in her three innings of work. During that same span, however, RU was busy posting five runs, highlighted by a triple by Smith and a steal of home by Payton Lincavage.

While she did surrender one run in relief, Georgia Ingle picked up her first save of the season as Vickers’ record moved to 3-1 on the season with the victory.

In their final game of the tournament, the Scarlet Knights faced off against Syracuse once again, and were able to exact some payback to avenge their earlier extra-innings defeat. This time, with Gamsby in the circle on Sunday, RU took control of the game from the onset.

The Knights got the scoring started early when Big Ten Player of the Week Kyleigh Sand came home thanks to a sacrifice fly by Smith in the first inning to take the early lead, 1-0. Rutgers then added two more in the third when Orange homered off starting pitcher Lindsey Hendrix, extending their lead to 3-0.

Two innings later, RU broke the game open with a four-run rally in the top of the fifth, putting them up by a comfortable 7-0 margin. While Syracuse would test the freshman hurler with a two-out rally in the bottom of the sixth, Gamsby got opposing pitcher Madison Knight to fly out with the bases loaded to extinguish the threat.

From there, Vickers took to the circle, and the veteran put down the Orange 1-2-3 in the bottom of the seventh to preserve the victory, 7-2. Hendrix took the loss for the Syracuse Orange.

Now sporting a 12-3 record, Rutgers will be back in action at next weekend’s Jeannine McHaney Memorial Classic. The tournament, which takes place in Lubbock, Texas, will pit the Scarlet Knights against North Dakota, Texas Tech, and intra-state rival Seton Hall, beginning on Friday, March 3.