HARRISONBURG, Va. (March 14, 2019) - Rutgers softball takes it first six-game winning streak since 2015 to the James Madison University Invitational for five games at the Buccaneer Classic on Friday through Sunday, March 8-10 at Betty Basler Field.

The Scarlet Knights (10-9) haven't faced any of the tournament's opponents (Tennessee Tech, East Tennessee State, Evansville and Siena) since 2010, a 5-0 victory for ETSU in their only contest. Rutgers beat Tennessee Tech in their only meeting in 2005, and last split a doubleheader with Evansville in 2009. Rutgers faces Siena for the first time.
 

THE SLATE | All Times Eastern
Fri. 3/15	vs. St. Joseph's	10:30 a.m.
Fri. 3/15	at No. 22 James Madison	3 p.m.
Sat. 3/16	vs. Morgan State	11:30 a.m.
Sat. 3/16	vs. Binghamton	4 p.m.
Sun. 3/17	vs. St. Joseph's	2 p.m.

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HEAD-TO-HEAD


KNIGHT NOTES
• Rutgers rides a six-game winning streak into the weekend, its first six-game streak since winning April 2015. During the streak, Rutgers won back-to-back games by shutout (4-0 over Virginia and 8-0 over Robert Morris) for the first time since blanking Villanova twice in 2014. Over the six-game run, Rutgers boosted its batting average by 31 points to .265 and lowered its ERA by 0.91 to 3.26.

• RU currently ranks third in the Big Ten with 1.10 home runs per game after leading the nation with 13 homers at the end of opening weekend. Nine different Scarlet Knights have a hit a home run this season, while last season, Rutgers didn't reach 23 team home runs until its 41st game on April 20.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.

• Senior shortstop Jess Hughes is ranked fifth among the NCAA Division I softball active leaders in career walks drawn with 127. She also ranks fifth with 179 career runs scored. The New Jersey native is ranked 16th in the nation currently with her nine doubles, and comes in at sixth in the Big Ten with a .414 batting average, third in steals with 12 and first with 24 runs scored.

• Junior outfielder Anyssa Iliopoulos ranks third in the Big Ten with a .783 slugging percentage. Iliopoulos slashed .529/.652/.941 during Rutgers' six-game winning streak with 10 runs scored and six RBIs. She has smashed 14 of her 22 hits for extra bases.

• Freshman pitcher Corah Price leads the staff in innings (63.1), ERA (2.87), WHIP (1.08) and strikeouts (49). The rookie has a pair of saves and a sparkling 2.45 strikeout-to-walk ratio. Price's nine strikeouts against Robert Morris was the program's most in a game since nine on March 18, 2016 against UMass Lowell. She also ranks ninth in the Big Ten with a .209 opposing batting average.

• RU has succeeded in 37-of-43 stolen base attempts for an 86% average, including a 22-of-24 performance during the six-game win streak. RU's highest mark for a season in the last 15 years is 87% in '11. Comparatively, opposition this season have managed just 11-of-16 stolen base attempts (69%) against Rutgers pitching and freshman catcher Katie Wingert (5 caught stealing).

• 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.

TRENDING
• Seven of Rutgers' games have been decided by one run (RU is 3-4).
• Rutgers is 8-1 when scoring 6+ runs, and winless at 0-5 when an opponent scores 6+
• Rutgers is 11-4 when scoring first and has scored first in 11 of its 12 victories.
• Rutgers has scored in the first inning in five straight and in seven of the last eight.
• Rutgers is 6-1 when hitting 2+ home runs.
• Rutgers is 10-1 when leading after 5.
• Rutgers is 37-for-34 (86%) in stolen base attempts and 17 for its last 19 (89%).
• Jess Hughes has a 12-game streak of reaching base safely.
• Erin Collins and Anyssa Iliopoulos are on six-game hitting streaks during Rutgers' six-game winning streak.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights open Big Ten Conference play with a three-game set on March 22-24 at Northwestern, which is receiving the most votes without being ranked in the Top 25 in both major national polls.