FORT COLLINS, Colorado – Rutgers softball makes its second-ever appearance at the National Invitational Softball Championship (NISC) as the number seven seed. The Scarlet Knights open the double elimination against UC San Diego on Friday and join Baylor, UNLV, North Alabama, and Tarleton State in the super regional bracket. The other super regional bracket includes Virginia, Central Arkansas, George Washington, Kansas, Bowling Green and Stephen F. Austin with two teams from each of the two brackets advancing to the championship round slated to begin on May 25.
- At the plate, Rutgers is led by a pair of First Team All-Big selections in graduate student outfielder Gabrielle Callaway and sophomore shortstop Kyleigh Sand, the first First Team All-Big Ten honorees since joining the league in the 2014-15 season. Sand leads the Scarlet Knights batting .400 with a team-leading 66 hits, 48 runs, 12 doubles and 22 stolen bases. Callaway, meanwhile, is hitting .381 with a team-leading 10 home runs, 47 RBIs and .660 slugging percentage.
- Inside the circle, juniors Jaden Vickers and Ashley Hitchcock have tossed a majority of the innings played. The left handed Vickers has struck out 172 in 37 appearances and 167.0 innings of work holding down a 4.36 ERA with a 14-11 record. The right handed Hitchcock holds a 3.95 ERA with 116 opponents sent down on strikes in 36 appearances and 150.2 innings.
- Rutgers softball entered conference play jumping out to a 21-10 record in its best start in 41 years. The Scarlet Knights opened the 2022 season at the Puerto Vallarta Challenge also hosted by Triple Crown Sports. Additionally, RU went 5-0 at the Pirate Clash, 4-1 at The Spring Games, 3-2 at the Arizona State/Grand Canyon Classic and 5-1 at its own Rutgers Tournament.
- The Scarlet Knights are among a record-tying eight Big Ten Teams in the postseason. Seven Big Ten schools were chosen for the NCAA Tournament. Illinois, Michigan, Minnesota, Nebraska, Northwestern, Ohio State and Wisconsin all earned NCAA Tournament berths. Rutgers took a 9-2 victory over Minnesota in their Big Ten opener marking the first-ever win over the Golden Gophers.
- Rutgers played in the NISC back in 2019. The Scarlet Knights opened with a 2-1 victory over Appalachian State before falling 1-0 to host Liberty and 4-0 to Marshall in the super regional round.
Head Coach: Pati Gerckens (UNC '89) - 822-656 overall (30th season)/822-656 at UC San Diego (30th season)
2022 Record: 27-26 overall, 15-12 Big West
All-Time Series: First meeting
Tritons to Watch:
Batting
Isabel Lavrov - .344 BA, 34 runs, 54 hits, 13 doubles, 5 HRs, 33 RBIs
Keila Bosinger - .321 BA, 31 runs, 53 hits, 11 doubles, 3 triples, 7 HRs, 30 RBIs
Bobbi Aguirre - .305 BA, 18 runs, 43 hits, 3 doubles, 2 HRs, 16 RBIs
Pitching
Jada Cecil - 20-4 W-L, 1.62 ERA, 173.1 IP, 230 Ks, 8 CGs
Gabby Williams - 4-8 W-L, 2.52 ERA, 94.1 IP, 83 Ks, 1 CG, 3 SVs
Head Coach: Glenn Moore (Northwestern State ' 93) - 973-467 overall (26th season)/834-425 at Baylor (22nd season)
2022 Record: 28-24 overall, 15-12 Big 12
All-Time Series: Bears lead 3-1
Bears to Watch:
Batting
McKenzie Wilson - .413 BA, 47 runs, 62 hits, 10 doubles, 5 triples, 2 HRs, 27 RBIs
Emily Hott - .325 BA, 26 runs, 39 hits, 5 doubles, 2 triples, 1 HR, 19 RBIs
Aliyah Binford - .313 BA, 24 runs, 45 hits, 14 doubles, 4 HRs, 23 RBIs
Pitching
Aliyah Binford - 9-6 W-L, 3.22 ERA, 114.2 IP, 131 Ks, 6 CGs, 1 SV
Dariana Orme - 12-14 W-L, 140.2 IP, 130 Ks, 8 CGs, 1 SV
Head Coach: Kristie Fox (Arizona '07) - 288-204 overall (10th season)/154-67 at UNLV (fifth season)
2022 Record: 39-13 overall, 17-7 Mountain West
All-Time Series: Rebels Lead 2-0
Rebels to Watch:
Batting
Sofia Morales - .407 BA, 37 runs, 55 hits, 3 doubles, 2 triples, 18 RBIs
Ariana Martinez - .377 BA, 14 runs, 40 hits, 3 doubles, 1 triple, 7 HRs, 47 RBIs
Janyssa Martin - .370 BA, 27 runs, 27 hits, 5 doubles, 1 triple 6 HRs, 22 RBIs
Pitching
Jenny Bressler - 26-6 W-L, 1.60 ERA, 201.2 IP, 208 Ks, 16 CGs, 5 SV
Alanna Thiede - 7-6 W-L, 1.53 ERA, 78.0 IP, 76 Ks, 1 CG, 2 SV
Head Coach: Ashley Cozart (Trevecca Nazarene '07) - 313-130 overall (ninth season)/313-130 at North Alabama (ninth season)
2022 Record: 38-18 overall, 15-9 Atlantic Sun
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Lions to Watch:
Batting
Emma Broadfoot - .373 BA, 34 runs, 62 hits, 14 doubles, 8 HRs, 55 RBIs
Meleah Hargett - .335 BA, 38 runs, 53 hits, 9 doubles, 3 HRs, 28 RBIs
Lexie Harper - .331 BA, 41 runs, 59 hits, 2 doubles, 1 triple, 11 RBIs
Pitching
Maci Birdyshaw - 18-4 W-L, 2.99 ERA, 147.1 IP, 136 Ks, 12 CGs
Megan Warhurst - 4-1 W-L, 3.23 ERA, 47.2 IP, 28 Ks
Head Coach: Mark Cumpian (Howard Payne '10) 190-111 overall (sixth season)/ 190-111 at Tarleton State (sixth season)
2022 Record: 29-23 overall, 14-10 WAC
All-Time Series: First Meeting
Texans to Watch:
Batting
Georgia Capell - .383 BA, 42 runs, 57 hits, 12 doubles, 1 triple, 14 HRs, 43 RBIs
Katy Schaefer - .353 BA, 15 runs, 47 hits, 7 doubles, 7 HRs, 45 RBIs
Morgan Medford - .341 BA, 47 runs, 61 hits, 6 doubles, 3 triples, 7 RBIs
Pitching
Reagan Chism - 7-5 W-L, 2.76 ERA, 83.2 IP, 40 Ks, 5 CGs
Tristan Bridges - 11-11 W-L, 3.58 ERA, 148.2 IP, 103 Ks, 14 CGs
- Rutgers has had its best start to a season since 1981. The Scarlet Knights opened 2022 at 10-3 which is the best start for the programs since 1981. In 1981, Rutgers finished 28-3 overall having opened the season at 28-1 and advancing to the AIAW College World Series.
- Rutgers surpassed its win total from 2021 three weeks into the season. The Scarlet Knights picked up win number nine on Feb. 25 in a 3-2 eight-inning victory over Siena during The Spring Games.
- Rutgers put together an eight-game win streak from Feb. 18-26, the longest for the Scarlet Knights since 1994. During the eight-game win streak, Rutgers went 5-0 at the Pirate Clash picking up a win over host ECU along with a pair of victories against Wagner and Colgate. The previous streak had RU winning 10 games between April 5-18, 1994.
- Junior Jaden Vickers has five games this season with double-digit strikeouts. Her 17 K's at Purdue on April 29 are the most in Scarlet Knight individual records dating back to 2004. She is also seventh in career strikeouts (258) and tied for fourth in season strikeouts (172).
- Classmate Ashley Hitchcock is sixth all-time in strikeouts with 265 K's in her three seasons "On The Banks". She has 116 strikeouts this season and needs six more Ks to crack the single season top ten.
- RU's catcher redshirt junior Katie Wingert is currently tied for fifth all-time in home runs with 23. Gabrielle Callaway is one home run shy of cracking the top 10 with 17 dingers in her three seasons at Rutgers.
- The 16 runs to open up the Rutgers Softball Tournament in the 16-0 victory over UMES were the most by the Scarlet Knights since an 18-9 victory over LIU Brooklyn back on April 28, 2015.
- Taylor Fawcett registered an inside-the-park home run against Indiana on April 10, the first for the Scarlet Knights in over a decade. The last inside-the-park home run was Brittney Lindley against Texas Southern in a 9-1 victory back on February 26, 2011.
- Sophomore Kayla Bock collected five RBIs in the 9-8 win over George Washington and Gabrielle Callaway had five RBIs in a win 9-2 over Minnesota. Both were the most by a Scarlet Knight in a game this season and most since Katie Wingert vs. Morgan State on March 16, 2019.
- Rutgers has had four weekly honors from the Big Ten - Maddie Lawson - 2x Rookie of the Week, Kyleigh Sand Co-Player of the Week & Gabrielle Callaway Co-Player of the Week - the most by the squad since joining the league in 2014-15.
- Two Scarlet Knights received Rutgers softball's first-ever First Team All-Big honors as graduate student Gabrielle Callaway and sophomore shortstop Kyleigh Sand were both lauded with first team all-conference honors.
- It is the first time since joining the Big Ten in 2014-15 that softball has had a First Team All-Big Ten honoree and the third time two Scarlet Knights have earned All-Big Ten accolades.
- Callaway, in her third season at Rutgers, ranks in the top ten in six Big Ten statistical categories including first in sacrifice flies (6), third in RBIs (47), eighth in home runs (10) and on-base percentage (.478) and ninth in the batting average (.381) and hits. Her 10 home runs this season upped her total "On The Banks" to 17, just one long ball shy of cracking the Rutgers all-time top ten. Callaway's 47 RBIs, meanwhile, tie her for second on the single-season leaders list. The Mobile, Alabama native was responsible for a trio of walk-offs this season in wins over Colgate, Siena and Holy Cross. She was named a Big Ten Player of the Week helping Rutgers to its first-ever win over Minnesota. In the opening Big Ten weekend series with the Golden Gophers, Callaway hit .714 (5-for-7) including three doubles and a grand slam along with three runs and seven RBIs. Her five RBIs in the 9-2 win over Minnesota tied for the most by a Scarlet Knight this season.
- Sand, who joined the Scarlet Knights this season, ranks among the top ten in seven Big Ten statistical categories including second in hits (66), third in stolen bases (22), fourth in batting average (.400) and runs (48), sixth in on-base percentage (.498) and eighth in doubles (12). She is the first Scarlet Knight since 2011 to hit .400 or higher in a season and among Rutgers single-season leaders, her 66 hits tie her for third and her 22 stolen bases land her seventh. Additionally, her team-leading 48 runs helped the Scarlet Knights to the most runs score since 2015. Sand was responsible for three walk-offs in 2022 in victories over Fairfield, Drexel and Monmouth. The Norco, California native was named a Big Ten Softball Player of the Week after guiding RU to 5-1 week at the Rutgers Softball Tournament behind a .619 (13-for-21) batting average with 10 runs, eight RBIs and six stolen bases.
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