PISCATAWAY, N.J. - The Rutgers softball team has announced its schedule for the 2016 campaign. The 56-game slate includes six tournaments, four midweek non-conference matchups and eight conference series.
The Scarlet Knights will cross paths with 11 programs that reached the 2015 NCAA DI Softball Championship, highlighted by the national runner-up in the Women's College World Series and Big Ten regular season and tournament champion, Michigan.
"We are extremely excited by the challenges of our 2016 schedule. We set out to improve the competitiveness of this year's schedule and have achieved our objective," said 10th-year head coach Jay Nelson. "Seven pre-conference games are with teams that finished in the top 25 in RPI. Our conference schedule has us in six games pitted against teams also in the top 25."
On February 12, Rutgers opens the season strong with a tournament at UCF, which features four NCAA qualifiers in James Madison, Fordham, Alabama and the host Knights. The campaign continues with tournaments at Kennesaw State, Louisiana-Lafayette, UNC-Greensboro, Florida Atlantic and USF.
In conference play, Rutgers will return last season visits to Maryland (Apr. 20), Michigan State (Apr. 29- May 1) and Michigan (May 6-8). The Scarlet Knights will in turn welcome Penn State (Mar. 25-27), Ohio State (Apr. 8-10), and Indiana (Apr. 22-24) after facing all three on the road a year ago. RU will face Illinois away (Apr. 1-3) and Minnesota at home (Apr. 15-17) as the teams meet for the first time as conference foes.
"This schedule has a mix of games that will enable us to play tough competition and still involve everyone on the roster for all to gain confidence and experience," said Nelson. "Two thirds of our outfield will be comprised of either freshmen or outfielders who did not start last year so it will be important for them to gain experience and confidence while adding wins to our resume."
The full 2016 schedule can be found here.
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