Softball Set to Spar With Spartans at Michigan State

Friday, April 27

East Lansing, Mich.

4 PM

Rutgers University

Michigan State

Softball Set to Spar With Spartans at Michigan State

Apr 26 | Softball

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Three games on tap with major Big Ten Tournament implications

EAST LANSING, Mich. (April 26, 2018) - Rutgers softball makes its final road trip of the regular season at Michigan State for a three-game Big Ten series from Friday through Sunday, April 27-29.

With six Big Ten games remaining, the Scarlet Knights and Spartans are battling for one of the final playoff spots for the Big Ten Tournament, taking place from May 10-12 at Wisconsin. The top 12 of the 14 softball teams in the conference qualify for the postseason, with the top four seeds receiving a first-round bye.

THE SLATE \| All Times Eastern
Fri. 4/27	at Michigan State	4 p.m.
Sat. 4/28	at Michigan State	1 p.m.
Sun. 4/29	at Michigan State	1 p.m.

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HEAD-TO-HEAD

KNIGHT NOTES
• Senior first baseman Rebecca Hall is ranked in the Top 10 of seven statistical categories in the Big Ten this season. She comes in second in triples (6), fourth in total bases (100), fifth in doubles (12), sixth in batting average (.385) and hits (55), seventh in slugging (.699), and ninth in RBIs (37). By the numbers ... 9 RBIs needed for Hall to set a new program career record ... 5 doubles needed to set a new school record ... 6 triples currently ranks sixth in the NCAA... 100 total bases ranks 47th in the NCAA.

• Through games played on Tuesday, April 24, Rutgers softball ranks 2nd in NCAA Division I in turning double plays at 0.74 per contest, posting a nation-leading 32 double plays in 43 games. Twenty of the plays came with one out already on the board, hence ending the inning. Hall has been in on 25 doubles plays, followed by 17 from freshman second baseman Myah Moy and 15 from junior shortstop Jess Hughes.

• Junior shortstop Jess Hughes posted a career-high 16-game hit streak from March 10 - April 8 while hitting .455 over that span and getting on-base at a .577 clip. She ranks 13th in the Big Ten with 32 runs scored and fifth with 27 walks. It's the third longest hit streak in the Big Ten this season, and longest at Rutgers since Sarah Kalker hit in 18 straight in 2007.

• Sophomore left fielder Hailey Hoklotubbe is riding a streak of 14 straight games reaching base safely since moving up to the No. 2 hole on March 30. Over that span, Hoklotubbe is hitting .295 with an on-base percentage of .367 while scoring nine runs and driving in six. She also has a seven-game hitting streak, the longest current streak on the team.

CLIMBING THE LADDER
Rebecca Hall recorded hit No. 200 of her career in the seventh inning of the dramatic comeback victory over Penn State on Friday, March 30. She becomes just the fourth player in program history to reach the milestone.

Hall moved up the RU record book in a few categories this year. With 37 RBIs, she now ranks third with 137 career ribbies. She ranks third all-time with 212 career hits, her 12 doubles place her second all-time with 47, and her six triples moved her into sixth place with nine career three-baggers.

This season she has 17 multi-hit games, nine multi-RBI contests and reached base safely in 13 straight games from March 10-31.

TRENDING
• Rutgers is 12-3 when scoring six or more runs in a contest.
• The Scarlet Knights are 10-1 when leading after four innings.
• RU's most productive inning has been the fifth this season, with 34 runs scored in the frame.
• Hailey Hoklotubbe has reached base safely in 14 straight games with an average of .295 and on-base percentage of .367.
• Rutgers is 37-for-45 in stolen base attempts (82% success rate).
• The Scarlet Knights are 13-7 when scoring first, and 4-20 when the opponent does.
• Five of Rutgers' 17 wins have been in come-from-behind fashion when trailing after five innings.
• Rutgers has hit a home run in 12-of-17 wins.

ILIOPOULOS' GRAND GAME
Sophomore Anyssa Iliopoulos blasted her first collegiate grand slam in dramatic fashion on Wednesday at LIU Brooklyn. With RU down 7-2 in the final scheduled inning, Iliopoulos helped the Scarlet Knights come all the way back with a grand slam, and later hit a go-ahead RBI double in the top of the eighth inning. It was part of a three-hit and five-RBI day for Iliopoulos, both career-high marks.

HUGHES COMES HOME
Junior and Sewell, New Jersey native Jess Hughes transferred in from Fordham and earned the starting nod at shortstop. Hughes set a Fordham record for OBP (.510) in 2017. She hit .370 for the Rams with 12 doubles, six triples, 11 home runs and 41 RBIs en route to NFCA All-Region, All-ECAC and All-Atlantic 10 honors. She ranked 15th in the nation with 0.87 walks per game and 18th with six triples.

RUTGERS RECRUITS
Jay Nelson welcomes 10 newcomers to the squad in 2018, including nine first-years.

Myah Moy has played in all 44 games (43 starts at second base) and leads the freshmen with 41 hits. She is hitting 14-for-40 (.350) in Big Ten Play with two home runs, six runs scored and eight RBIs in 14 contests.

BOWMAN BREAKS OUT
On April 22 against Northwestern, Nicole Bowman became the first Scarlet Knight to hit two home runs in a game since Sierra Maddox did it on March 23 of 2017.

Bowman was named to the Puerto Vallarta College Challenge All-Tournament Team by batting 5-for-11 with a walk, including a 2-for-2 mark in the win over Houston. The sophomore accounted for 39 of Rutgers' 97 hits by rookies last year. Bowman slashed .275/.393/.437 as a freshman with three home runs, 12 doubles and 34 RBIs.

She has six home runs this season to tie for the team lead. The sophomore has a hit in 17 of her last 25 games while reaching base safely in 18 of her last 21 with RBIs in three of her last six.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights host their non-conference finale on Wednesday, May 2 against Hofstra at 4 p.m. at the RU Softball Complex before welcoming Indiana for the final regular season games May 4-6 in PIscataway.