Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)
Softball Unveils 2020 Schedule
Dec 16 | Softball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The 2020 Rutgers softball schedule featuring 15 home games at an updated Rutgers Softball Complex, contests with six NCAA Teams, including Women's College World Series participant Minnesota, three National Invitational Softball Championship squads and six early season tournaments was unveiled on Monday by Scarlet Knight head coach Kristen Butler.
"Our team has set high expectations for the 2020 season with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament," said Butler, who enters her second season "On The Banks." "Our student-athletes have worked extremely hard in the off-season and this fall with that goal in mind. We have some great additions this year with our freshmen and transfers that will make an immediate impact and combined with our returning core group from last year's successful team, our staff feels we have the pieces in place to make the postseason. Our schedule is very balanced and gives us the opportunity to be in the field of 64 come the end of the season."
The Scarlet Knights will play their first 31 games on the road including tournaments in Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida and West Virginia.
"We are excited to get the season underway in some warmer climates," said Butler. "These tournament games, which include playing a pair of nonconference Power 5 teams, will give us a gauge as to where we are playing at in order to reach our postseason goals."
Georgia Southern Tournament (Feb. 7-9): Army, ETSU, Hartford, Georgia Southern
ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Feb. 14-16): Syracuse and Duke
UT Arlington Tournament (Feb. 21-23): Kansas, UTSA, UTA
USF Tournament (Feb. 28 – Mar. 1): Syracuse, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, USF
Marshall Tournament (Mar. 6-8): Bucknell, Marshall
ECU Tournament (Mar. 13-15): Sacred Heart, La Salle, ECU
The tournament schedule features the Scarlet Knights taking on NCAA Regional participant USF, a squad that received votes in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, along with a pair of schools who appeared in last year's National Invitational Softball Championship - UTA, who captured the National Invitational Softball Championship title, and Marshall, a regional finalist.
Also on the early season docket is a single game with Seton Hall (March 10) and a doubleheader at Howard (Mar. 17).
Home nonconference contests include Kent State (Mar. 24), a member of the National Invitational Softball Championship field, LIU (Apr. 22) and a return date with Seton Hall (Apr. 28).
The Scarlet Knights will also travel to Atlantic 10 co-champion and NCAA Regional contestant Fordham (Apr. 7).
"The Big Ten had a great season as a whole with six teams ultimately making it to the NCAA Tournament," noted Butler. "Our expectation is to join that group with four conference NCAA opponents on this year's schedule.
"I like our conference schedule. We have four weekends at home against quality conference opponents and opening the Big Ten schedule at home is always a great boost for opening weekend."
Rutgers opens the home schedule with an updated facility including a new turf field, updated bullpens, new backstop and padding along with new outfield, first and third base fencing in a three-game series with Wisconsin (Mar. 20-22) and Illinois (Mar. 27-29). Both the Badgers and Fighting Illini reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago with Wisconsin concluding last year receiving votes in both polls.
The Scarlet Knights follow with a trip to Michigan State (Apr. 3-5) and return home for a series with Iowa (Apr. 10-12).
RU will make a mid-week road trip for a doubleheader with Maryland (Apr. 15) and remain on the road for a weekend series with Penn State (Apr. 17-19).
Rutgers will also be on the road to meet College World Series participant Minnesota (Apr. 25-26). The Golden Gophers reached the finals of the Big Ten Tournament and ended the year ranked at No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll.
RU will then return home to close out the regular season versus Ohio State (May 1-3). The Buckeyes reached the NCAA regionals last season and captured votes in both major polls.
Rutgers softball is coming off its season best since 2015 with 29 overall wins with 11 victories in Big Ten action. The Scarlet Knights played in the National Invitational Softball Championship, its first nonconference postseason tournament appearance since 1996. During the 2019 campaign, RU set school records for home runs and earned its highest seed in the Big Ten Tournament since joining the league in 2015.
Among the returning Scarlet Knights are NFCA All-Region selections in senior utility Anyssa Iliopoulos and sophomore catcher Katie Wingert.
"Our team has set high expectations for the 2020 season with the ultimate goal of qualifying for the NCAA Tournament," said Butler, who enters her second season "On The Banks." "Our student-athletes have worked extremely hard in the off-season and this fall with that goal in mind. We have some great additions this year with our freshmen and transfers that will make an immediate impact and combined with our returning core group from last year's successful team, our staff feels we have the pieces in place to make the postseason. Our schedule is very balanced and gives us the opportunity to be in the field of 64 come the end of the season."
| EARLY SEASON TOURNAMENTS |
The Scarlet Knights will play their first 31 games on the road including tournaments in Georgia, North Carolina, Texas, Florida and West Virginia.
"We are excited to get the season underway in some warmer climates," said Butler. "These tournament games, which include playing a pair of nonconference Power 5 teams, will give us a gauge as to where we are playing at in order to reach our postseason goals."
Georgia Southern Tournament (Feb. 7-9): Army, ETSU, Hartford, Georgia Southern
ACC/Big Ten Challenge (Feb. 14-16): Syracuse and Duke
UT Arlington Tournament (Feb. 21-23): Kansas, UTSA, UTA
USF Tournament (Feb. 28 – Mar. 1): Syracuse, Texas A&M Corpus Christi, USF
Marshall Tournament (Mar. 6-8): Bucknell, Marshall
ECU Tournament (Mar. 13-15): Sacred Heart, La Salle, ECU
The tournament schedule features the Scarlet Knights taking on NCAA Regional participant USF, a squad that received votes in the final ESPN.com/USA Softball poll, along with a pair of schools who appeared in last year's National Invitational Softball Championship - UTA, who captured the National Invitational Softball Championship title, and Marshall, a regional finalist.
| NONCONFERENCE |
Also on the early season docket is a single game with Seton Hall (March 10) and a doubleheader at Howard (Mar. 17).
Home nonconference contests include Kent State (Mar. 24), a member of the National Invitational Softball Championship field, LIU (Apr. 22) and a return date with Seton Hall (Apr. 28).
The Scarlet Knights will also travel to Atlantic 10 co-champion and NCAA Regional contestant Fordham (Apr. 7).
| BIG TEN |
"The Big Ten had a great season as a whole with six teams ultimately making it to the NCAA Tournament," noted Butler. "Our expectation is to join that group with four conference NCAA opponents on this year's schedule.
"I like our conference schedule. We have four weekends at home against quality conference opponents and opening the Big Ten schedule at home is always a great boost for opening weekend."
Rutgers opens the home schedule with an updated facility including a new turf field, updated bullpens, new backstop and padding along with new outfield, first and third base fencing in a three-game series with Wisconsin (Mar. 20-22) and Illinois (Mar. 27-29). Both the Badgers and Fighting Illini reached the NCAA Tournament a year ago with Wisconsin concluding last year receiving votes in both polls.
The Scarlet Knights follow with a trip to Michigan State (Apr. 3-5) and return home for a series with Iowa (Apr. 10-12).
RU will make a mid-week road trip for a doubleheader with Maryland (Apr. 15) and remain on the road for a weekend series with Penn State (Apr. 17-19).
Rutgers will also be on the road to meet College World Series participant Minnesota (Apr. 25-26). The Golden Gophers reached the finals of the Big Ten Tournament and ended the year ranked at No. 12 in the USA Today/NFCA Coaches Poll and No. 8 in the ESPN.com/USA Softball Poll.
RU will then return home to close out the regular season versus Ohio State (May 1-3). The Buckeyes reached the NCAA regionals last season and captured votes in both major polls.
| ABOUT THE SCARLET KNIGHTS |
Rutgers softball is coming off its season best since 2015 with 29 overall wins with 11 victories in Big Ten action. The Scarlet Knights played in the National Invitational Softball Championship, its first nonconference postseason tournament appearance since 1996. During the 2019 campaign, RU set school records for home runs and earned its highest seed in the Big Ten Tournament since joining the league in 2015.
Among the returning Scarlet Knights are NFCA All-Region selections in senior utility Anyssa Iliopoulos and sophomore catcher Katie Wingert.
Follow Rutgers softball on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
- RU -
Players Mentioned
UTIL
/ Softball
C
/ SoftballWednesday, May 27
Sunday, May 03
Monday, April 27
Monday, April 27
