Softball Hosts Indiana for Final Home Series of Season
Apr 21 | Softball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. (April 21, 2016) - Concluding its 2016 home slate, Rutgers softball hosts Indiana for a three-game series from April 22-24. The start times for each contest are 3 p.m., 1 p.m. and 12 p.m. ET, respectively.
Prior to Saturday's contest, the Scarlet Knights will honor their 2016 seniors - Elizabeth Adams, Stephanie Huang, Dresden Maddox, Melanie Slowinski, and Jordan Whitley - in a pregame senior day ceremony.
| Rutgers (20-26, 4-10 Big Ten) vs. Indiana (24-19, 6-8 Big Ten) Piscataway, N.J. | RU Softball Complex | ||
| Game 1 | Friday, April 22 - 3 p.m. ET | |
| Game 2 | Saturday, April 23 - 1 p.m. ET | |
| Game 3 | Sunday, April 24 - 12 p.m. ET | |
RU'S LAST TIME OUT
Rutgers returned to the win column, sweeping its doubleheader at Maryland on Wednesday night by scores of 4-0 and 6-3. Senior Dresden Maddox (Kennesaw, Ga.) picked up a win and a save to highlight the showdown on Big Ten Network.
Maddox first tossed a complete game for her second shutout victory of the season in game one, tying her season-high with seven strikeouts and allowing only four hits in the win. In game two, the senior righty entered in relief and registered two scoreless frames to earn her first career save and seal the win for junior Shayla Sweeney (Barrington, N.J.) and RU.
At the plate, seniors Melanie Slowinski (Severn, Md.) and Stephanie Huang (Paramus, N.J.) led RU with three hits each across the two games. Huang ranks second in the conference with 55 hits on the season. Freshman Allie Yoffee (Ringwood, N.J.) and sophomore Sierra Maddox (Kennesaw, Ga.) posted home runs in the first and second game, respectively.
SCOUTING INDIANA
Indiana is coming off a series loss to Michigan State last weekend (1-2) followed by a 7-1 victory over nonconference opponent Ball State on Wednesday. In conference, the Hooisers also own a series sweep of Iowa, while splitting a doubleheader with Purdue and suffering series losses to Penn State (1-2) and No. 2 Michigan (0-3).
Rebecca Blitz leads IU with a .380 batting average, ranking 12th in the conference. Blitz is tied for third in the league with 54 hits and tied for second with 26 stolen bases. Erin Lehman follows with a .351 hitting clip, along with a team-high 25 RBIs on the season.
In the circle, the pitching staff is registering a 3.44 ERA as a whole. Tara Trainer paces the crew with a win-loss record of 11-12 in 122.2 innings, ranking 12th in ERA (3.42), fourth in opposing batting average (.193), and fifth in strikeouts (153) amongst the Big Ten. Josie Wood follows with an ERA of 3.49 in 124.1 innings and a win-loss record of 10-7.
SERIES VERSUS THE HOOSIERS
Indiana holds a 4-3 edge in the all-time series versus Rutgers. Last season, RU met IU for the Scarlet Knights' first series as a member of the Big Ten, claiming the three-game set, 2-1, on March 20-22, 2015.
The Scarlet Knights earned their first conference victory in the opener by a score of 11-5. Although RU was edged 8-7 in the middle game, the Scarlet Knights sealed the series with a 10-6, six-inning victory in the finale.
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