COLLEGE STATION, Texas (Feb. 14, 2019) - Rutgers softball looks to carry its home run momentum to the Lone Star State for five games at the Texas A&M Invitational on Friday through Sunday, Feb. 15-17. The Scarlet Knights will play Liberty, who is receiving votes in the latest national coaches poll, and McNeese State twice each, with one game slated against the host and No. 22/19 ranked Aggies.

All three of Rutgers' opponents qualified for the NCAA Championships in 2018. Texas A&M advanced to the Super Regionals, while McNeese State won the Southland Conference and Liberty claimed the Big South championship.

Head Coach Kristen Butler:
On carrying the home run momentum into the next tournament: "I think great preparation is the key to keeping the momentum. The fun part is we're enjoying ourselves, we took a lot of notes on what went well. Winning is contagious, so we'll just keep coming in with a game plan."

On offensive mindset: "Offensively, we put up good power numbers, but realistically, we want to make sure we score early. Runs may only come one at a time against these pitchers in Texas, so we'll need to move runners over, make adjustments quicker, and execute in general earlier in the game."

On the upcoming tournament's environment: "We're excited. It will be a fun atmosphere. They have a great, loud stadium and a great home crowd. It may mimic what a Big Ten game will be like. So it will be good to simulate that. The expectations are the same. The game is still a game, so we'll focus on that instead of the atmosphere. But the atmosphere will raise the level of the game."
 

THE SLATE | All Times Eastern
Fri. 2/15	vs. Liberty	11 a.m.
Fri. 2/15	vs. McNeese State	1:15 p.m.
Sat. 2/16	at Texas A&M	4 p.m.
Sat. 2/16	vs. McNeese State	6:15 p.m.
Sun. 2/17	vs. Liberty	11 a.m.

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HEAD-TO-HEAD


KNIGHT NOTES
• Rutgers softball leads the nation in home runs with 13 overall and 2.6 per game. 

• Eight different Scarlet Knights have a hit a home run this season. 
• Rutgers didn't reach 13 team home runs until its 26th game on March 16 last 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.

• Rutgers softball, which played its first game on April 2, 1975, claimed its 1,000th win in the history of the program on Saturday, Feb. 9 with a 13-5 victory over Jacksonville State. Its first win came on April 6, 1975 in a 28-0 drubbing of Seton Hall.

• 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.

• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes is ranked sixth among the NCAA Division I softball active leaders in career walks drawn with 119. She also ranks sixth with 161 career runs scored. The New Jersey native has a career on-base percentage of .471.

• Rutgers received standout debuts from three freshman during opening weekend. Pitcher Corah Price won a game and posted a 1.75 ERA and 0.92 WHIP, catcher Katie Wingert hit two home runs with four RBIs, and second baseman Aleah Marra has an OPS of .921 with a homer, four RBIs and four runs scored through the first five games.

TRENDING
• Rutgers is 3-0 when scoring 6+ runs.
• Rutgers is 3-0 when scoring first.
• Rutgers is 3-0 when hitting 2+ home runs.
• Rutgers is 3-0 when leading after 5.
• Nicolette Anico has a team-high four-game hitting streak.
• Anico and Anyssa Iliopoulos have reached base safely in all five games.
• When Anico gets the start batting ninth, Rutgers is 3-0.
• Jess Hughes' four runs scored against Army was Rutgers' most in a game since April 2017.

SEASON PREVIEWS
Infield | Outfield | Battery

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights travel to the Sunshine State for five games at the FIU Panther Invitational from Feb. 22-24 against Monmouth, Columbia and host Florida International.