Freshman Baileigh Burtis smacked a single to left field in the third inning that scored Bailey Briggs and Jillian Anderson, giving the Scarlet Knights a 3-1 lead on their way to a convincing victory over the Lehigh Mountain Hawks before a crowd of 152 at the Rutgers Softball Complex on Tuesday afternoon.

The Scarlet Knights collected nine hits in the game, including a home run by L.A. Matthews, as RU bats pounded Hawks pitchers.

It looked like things would be going RU's way early when Matthews' fourth home run of the season put the Knights up early, 1-0, in the bottom of the first inning.

The Mountain Hawks were able to come right back in the top of the second, taking advantage of an error by the Knights to tie the game at 1-1. But that would be the end of the scoring for Lehigh.From that point forward, Rutgers starting pitcher Ella Harrison cut through the Hawks' lineup, going five innings and collecting eight strikeouts before being relieved by senior Laurelai DePew, who nailed down the final two scoreless innings.Meanwhile, the Knights took the lead in the third inning with Burtis' single to left, driving home two runs and giving Rutgers an advantage that they would never relinquish.

While the RU offense has suffered in recent weeks save for one outing against Penn State, the bats came alive against the Mountain Hawks. Once again it was the seniors leading the way, as Anderson went 3-for-4 with an RBI, and Matthews went 2-for-4 with two RBIs.Despite two errors in the game, the Scarlet Knights' pitching was able to overcome the miscues as Harrison posted her eleventh victory of the season, while DePew picked up her second save.The Knights will first rest up before their trip out to Ann Arbor to face the Wolverines. The three-game series with Michigan commences on Saturday, April 12 at 5:00 p.m. Game two will take place on Sunday afternoon at 2:00 p.m., while the concluding match is scheduled for a Monday afternoon start. The games will be broadcast on the Big Ten Plus network.