Softball Hosts Fordham for Home Opener

Wednesday, March 27

Piscataway, NJ

3:00 PM

Rutgers University

Fordham

Mar 26 | Softball

Game Notes BTN Plus Live Stats Free Parking Registration

Scarlet Knights take on the Rams at the RU Softball Complex on Wednesday at 3 p.m.

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (March 26, 2019) - Rutgers softball hosts its 2019 home opener on Wednesday, March 27 against Fordham at the RU Softball Complex.

All fans attending the game will receive the official Rutgers Softball 2019 Schedule Poster and a Block R magnet. The game will be streamed live on BTN Plus and the BTN2Go app with Pat Boyle on the play-by-play.

#GetYourArmorOn🛡

This year's poster is 🔥🔥

First chance to grab one for 🆓 - and to see #RUSB🥎 at home - is on Wednesday vs. Fordham at 3 p.m. at the RU Softball Complex! pic.twitter.com/mtbQT2A4Jh
— Rutgers Softball (@RUSoftball) March 25, 2019

The Scarlet Knights (15-14) are looking for their first victory over the Rams (9-17) over their last five games. Fordham swept a three-game season series in 2017. The Rams are coming off taking two out of three against George Washington in their Atlantic 10 Conference opening series.

ADMISSION & PARKING ARE FREE (*Requires registration)
While parking will be free of charge, all fans who do not possess a student or faculty/staff parking pass, and who plan on attending a Rutgers Athletics event (not including football, men's and women's basketball and wrestling) must register each vehicle to be parked, per new University policy. The free parking registration can be completed once for an entire season at each parking facility.

Register for free parking here.

FOLLOW LIVE
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HEAD-TO-HEAD

KNIGHT NOTES
• Rutgers senior shortstop Jess Hughes transferred from Fordham to the Scarlet Knights after playing her first two collegiate seasons with the Rams. Hughes hit .361 with an on-base percentage of .490 while scoring 120 runs and driving in 62. She was a finalist for the NFCA Division I Freshman of the Year in 2016 and a First Team NFCA All-Region and First Team All-Atlantic 10 selection in 2017.

• Rutgers produced its first seven-game winning streak since April 2015 from Feb. 28 - March 15. During the streak, Rutgers won back-to-back games by shutout (4-0 over Virginia and 8-0 over Robert Morris) for the first time since blanking Villanova twice in 2014. Over the seven-game run, Rutgers boosted its batting average by 32 points to .266 and lowered its ERA by 0.96 to 3.20.

• RU currently ranks fourth in the Big Ten with almost a home runs per game after leading the nation with 13 homers at the end of opening weekend. Nine different Scarlet Knights have a hit a home run this season. The five home runs against Army is a school record for a single game and tied for third all-time in Big Ten history for a single game.

• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes is ranked sixth among the NCAA Division I softball active leaders in runs scored with 184. She also ranks fifth with 132 career walks drawn. The New Jersey native is ranked 34th in the nation currently with her 10 doubles, and is second in the Big Ten in runs scored with 29. She comes in at fourth in the Big Ten in both batting average (.393) and steals (14).

• Junior outfielder Anyssa Iliopoulos ranks sixth in the Big Ten with a .705 slugging percentage and ranks 14th in the nation with 11 doubles. Iliopoulos slashed .526/.654/.895 during Rutgers' 7-game win streak with 10 runs scored and six RBIs. Seventeen of her 27 hits have gone for extra bases.

• Freshman pitcher Corah Price leads the staff in innings (85.2), ERA (3.19), WHIP (1.14) and strikeouts (63). The rookie has a pair of saves and a sparkling 3.15 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Price's nine strikeouts against Robert Morris was the program's most in a game since nine on March 18, 2016 against UMass Lowell.

• RU has succeeded in 44-of-52 stolen base attempts for an 85% average. RU's highest mark for a season in the last 15 years is 87% in '11. Comparatively, opposition has managed just 13-of-21 stolen base attempts (62%) against Rutgers pitching and freshman catcher Katie Wingert (eight caught stealing). RU ranks 50th nationally and fourth in the Big Ten with 1.48 steals per game.

• First-year head coach Kristen Butler won her first game at the helm of the Scarlet Knights on Saturday, Feb. 9 against Jacksonville State. A former SEC Player of the Year and record-setting professional softball player in the United States and Japan, Butler has spent the last four seasons turning around the program as head coach at Toledo while earning the 2018 Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year honor.

TRENDING
• Nine of Rutgers' games have been decided by one run (RU is 4-5).
• Rutgers is 11-1 when scoring 6+ runs, and winless at 0-8 when an opponent scores 6+
• Rutgers is 12-7 when scoring first and has scored first in 12 of its 15 victories.
• Rutgers has scored in the first inning 14 times, and in nine of the last 13.
• Rutgers is 7-1 when hitting 2+ home runs.
• Rutgers is 11-2 when leading after 5.
• Rutgers is 44-for-52 (85%) in stolen base attempts and 20 for its last 23 (87%).

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights are scheduled for their home Big Ten opener on Friday, March 29 against No. 23 Michigan at 3 p.m. at the RU Softball Complex, followed by games on Saturday (3 p.m.) and Sunday (1 p.m.).