BOCA RATON, Fla. - Senior Whitney West tallied three hits, including an RBI single that broke the LIU Brooklyn career hits record and gave the Blackbirds a lead they would not relinquish in a 5-1 victory over Mercer on Friday. West drove in a pair against the Bears and now has 197 hits in her four seasons with LIU, topping former All-American Randi Gillespie and three-time First Team All-Northeast Conference selection Vanessa Mejia on the list who had 195 for their careers.

Mercer opened the scoring with a lone run in the bottom of the second, and remained on top until the top of the fifth when West walked and came around to score on a double from senior Ariana Lopez.

After freshman pitcher Tallie Woodson worked around an infield single in the fifth, a three-run rally in the sixth broke the tie and gave the Blackbirds the lead for good. Senior Alyssa Gospodarek opened the frame with a double and freshman Evie Claussell legged out an infield single to put a pair on with nobody out.

A fielder's choice allowed junior Kayla Gloady to reach base and load the bases with nobody out. Two batters later, West came through with a clutch opposite-field single to drive home Gospodarek and put LIU Brooklyn on top, 2-1.

Lopez continued her hot hitting as the next batter, driving in two more runs to boost the advantage to 4-1. In the top of the seventh, West added an insurance run with an RBI single to account for the final score. Woodson was impressive throughout, picking up a complete-game victory by allowing just a single run on three hits while striking out six in seven full innings.

In the first contest of the morning against Rutgers, each team scored with two outs in their half of the first inning. A solo home run from Rebecca Hall accounted for the Scarlet Knights' run, while a run-scoring single from senior Celinna Cosio drove home sophomore Victoria Zamora to tie the contest at 1-1.

Sophomore Erynn Sobieski was in control over the next four innings, recording nine ground ball outs and three strikeouts while allowing just a pair of singles. The Blackbirds had a couple opportunities to take the lead, with the best chance coming in the bottom of the fifth.

Junior Kayla Gloady singled to lead off the inning before senior Whitney West doubled down the right-field line to put a pair in scoring position with one out. After a groundout to the pitcher, Zamora was intentionally walked to load the bases but junior Kylie Mulholland lined out to the right side to strand three runners on base.

Similarly, Rutgers had an opportunity to move in front in the next half inning as a pair of singles and a walk packed the sacks full of Scarlet Knights with two outs. But Sobieski was able to avoid trouble, inducing another ground ball out to end the threat.

With the score still tied heading to the seventh, the Scarlet Knights' Carly Todd was hit by a pitch to lead off. Sobieski recorded two consecutive outs before an error on the Blackbirds allowed Todd, who had advanced to second on a groundout, come around to score and push Rutgers on top, 2-1. LIU went down in order in the bottom half as freshman pitcher Whitney Jones finished off her complete-game win.