After winning the first two games of their West Coast tour, the Scarlet Knights ran into a buzzsaw against the Washington Huskies.

Due to the postponement of Friday night's game, Rutgers locked up with the Huskies for a doubleheader on Saturday, which saw the Scarlet Knights get one-hit in each of the games against Washington.

Game One

In the early game, the Knights held their own against the Huskies for the first two innings, as RU starting hurler Kelsey Hoekstra kept Washington’s potent offense off the board. But things turned quickly for the Knights in the third inning.

A passed ball, an error and two walks combined with timely hitting led to a four-run inning for Washington, which would prove to be more than enough to ensure the victory.

Now staked to a lead, Huskies starting pitcher Stevie Hansen was cruising, holding the Scarlet Knights hitless through four innings. After that, Washington again erupted for five runs in the bottom of the fourth on the strength of RBI hits from Charity Sevaaetasi, Alycia Flores, and Riley Peschek.

Down 9-0 in the top of the fifth, RU collected their only hit of the game when Bailey Briggs singled to right. But the Knights went scoreless in the top of the frame, and the Huskies recorded a run-rule victory in game number one. Hoekstra took the loss for RU while Hansen collected the win for Washington.

Game Two

The second game of the doubleheader looked like a carbon-copy of the first game, as RU starting pitcher Ella Harrison did battle with Washington’s Morgan Reimer.

The Knights threatened in the top of the second when Stephanie Kraska reached on a two-out double, followed by a walk to Gaelen Kelly. But, with two on and two out, Addie Osborne struck out swinging, and the RU threat was extinguished. Kraska’s double would turn out to be the lone hit of the game for Rutgers.

The Huskies then set about collecting four runs in the bottom of the second inning, three in the third and five more in the fourth, taking a commanding 12-0 lead.

When the Knights went down 1-2-3 in the top of the fifth, the Huskies had collected their second run-rule shutout victory of the day. Harrison took the loss for Rutgers, evening her record to 10-10 on the season, while Reimer recorded the win for the Huskies.

Now 16-19 this year, the Knights will return home to play host to the Oregon Ducks in a series that begins on Friday, March 28 at the Rutgers Softball Complex. The game will be carried on the Big Ten network.