Rutgers Softball opens season with fast start at Houston Invitational
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights came out of the gates fast to start the 2024 season, with a prolific offense that accounted for 43 runs in the first five games of the year.
GAME ONE: On an overcast Friday to start the Houston Invitational, the Rutgers offense was shining, crushing the Colgate Raiders in their season opener. With two outs in the bottom of the first, catcher Katie Wingert put one over the left field fence, driving home L.A. Matthews to give the Scarlet Knights a 2-1 lead. That began the scoring for Rutgers, who added two more in the bottom of the frame to post starting pitcher Mattie Boyd to a 4-1 lead.
That score held up until the bottom of the fourth when the Knights broke the game open with a five-run burst on five hits, a walk, and a wild pitch, extending their lead to 9-1. From there, the Knights shut out Colgate in the top of the fifth inning, and the game was called on the run rule, giving RU its first win of the season.
The Knight Report's three stars of the game:
First star of the game: Kayla Bock. 2-for-2, walk, three RBIs.
Second star of the game: Katie Wingert. 1-for-3, home run, two RBIs.
Third star of the game: Mattie Boyd. Five innings pitched with 11 strikeouts, just one run and one hit surrendered as the winning pitcher.
GAME TWO: In the second game of the season, and the day, the hot bats continued for the Scarlet Knights against the Indiana State Sycamores.
Rutgers jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first, as a Wingert home run moved her into third place on the all-time list for the Knights. The scoring continued in the second, as a five-run inning, paced by a Kyleigh Sand home run and an RBI single by Maddie Lawson, extended the RU lead to 7-1.
The Knights added two more in the fourth, and while they would allow three in the bottom of the inning, Rutgers led 9-4 heading into the fifth inning. While starting hurler Morgan Smith was lifted in favor of reliever Georgia Ingle, the game’s outcome was all but decided as the Knights added two more in the fifth and three more in the seventh, coasting to a 14-5 victory.
The Knight Report’s three stars of the game:
First star of the game: Kyleigh Sand. 3-for-4, walk, three RBIs, five runs scored.
Second star of the game: L.A. Matthews. 3-for-4, walk, three RBIs, two runs scored.
Third star of the game: Maddie Lawson. 2-for-3, two RBIs, three runs scored.
GAME THREE: The third game of the tournament saw the Scarlet Knights take on the host Cougars on Saturday, but had the added drama of seeing Boyd take to the circle as the starting hurler, pitted against her old University of Houston teammates.
After a shaky first inning in which she surrendered two runs, Boyd settled down and once again it was her battery mate, Wingert, who provided the offensive spark for the Knights. Her third home run of the season gave Rutgers a lead they would never relinquish.
Now working with the lead, Boyd shut down the Cougars for the rest of the game, while the Scarlet Knights were busy adding seven more runs, including a solo home run by Smith. For the second time in three games, the prolific RU offense brought the run rule into effect, and the Knights walked away with a 10-2 victory.
For Boyd it was her second win of the young season. Meanwhile, outfielder Kobie Hura not only provided the RBI single that triggered the run rule, but also provided a sparkling defensive gem that ended the game.
The Knight Report’s three stars of the game:
First star of the game: Mattie Boyd. A complete game, two-hit, six-inning victory.
Second star of the game: Katie Wingert. 3-for-4, home run, two RBIs, one run scored.
Third star of the game: Kobie Hura. 1-for-1, one RBI, defensive play of the game.
GAME FOUR: Rolling into the fourth game of the tournament, the Scarlet Knights ran into some difficulty when facing the Colgate Raiders, with Smith returning to the circle as the starting pitcher. The Raiders struck for four runs in the bottom of the second inning, which included a steal of home by third baseman Elizabeth Nitka.
But while Sand may set the table for the Scarlet Knights, it is Wingert who has dominated at the plate. A two-run shot in the top of the third cut the Raiders’ lead to 4-2, and from there the RU offense and five shutout innings from Smith turned the game in favor of the Scarlet Knights.
Doubles by Sand and Kayla Bock as well as a second homer by Wingert paced the Knights to their fourth win of the season, 7-4, as Smith took the victory. Wingert’s fifth home run of the young season allowed her to move into second place for the Scarlet Knights, trailing only Jackie Bates (40 career home runs) on the Rutgers all-time list.
The Knight Report’s three stars of the game:
First star of the game: Katie Wingert. 2-for-4, three RBIs, two runs scored.
Second star of the game: Morgan Smith. Seven innings, two earned runs, six strikeouts, 3-for-3 at the plate, walk, one run scored.
Third star of the game: Kyleigh Sand. 2-for-4, walk, one run scored.
GAME FIVE: In the final game of the tournament, the Scarlet Knights again faced off against their former American Athletic Conference foes, the Houston Cougars.
Ingle took the ball to start the game, but was lifted in favor of Smith after 3.2 innings as the Cougars extended their lead to 6-2 just as the game went into a rain delay.
When the weather finally lifted, the sun made its first appearance of the weekend, but it was shining on Houston pitcher Paris Lehman, who tied up the Scarlet Knights for the remainder of the game. Other than a solo homer by Bock, the Knights went quietly in the sixth and seventh innings as Houston took the final game of the tournament with a 6-3 victory. Lehman collected the win for the Cougars, while Ingle absorbed the loss for the Knights.
The Knight Report’s three stars of the game:
First star of the game: Kayla Bock. 2-for-3, home run, two RBIs, one run scored.
Second star of the game: L.A. Matthews. 1-for-3, walk, one run scored, four putouts.
Third star of the game: Maddie Lawson. 1-for-3, one putout, three assists.
With a record of 4-1 to start the season, the Scarlet Knights will next be in action on Friday, February 16 at 10 a.m. against the Army Black Knights. The clash of the Knights will be part of the Panther Invitational tournament in Miami, Fla., which will then see Rutgers square off against Duke in the second game later that afternoon.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel