Baseball and Softball still showing very different results

Softball

The Big Ten season opens up this weekend and the Rutgers softball team is in a good place as they prepare to head to Indiana.  A five game win streak was snapped by Iowa State (16-9) in extra innings, but the Knights completed a 4-1 trip to Clearwater, Florida for the Michele Smith Spring Break Tournament.

KNIGHT NOTES

• Rutgers was on a five-game win streak for the first time this season before the ISU loss.
• Alyssa Landrith recorded the 56th career win in the victory over UMass and the 57th win against UW-GB and is now tied at third on the Rutgers all-time career list.
• Landrith boasts 523 career strikeouts to lead the RU record books.
• Shayla Sweeney earned her second victory of the season to improve her overall record to 2-1.
• Jackie Bates recorded her fifth home run of the year. Bates ranks second on the all-time list with 23 homers.
• Bates has recorded a hit in 13 consecutive games and has reached base in 15 straight games.
• Stephanie Huang and Rebecca Hall are both on an eight-game hit streak.
• Jordan Whitley has registered a hit in 13 of the last 14 contests.
• The Scarlet Knights ended a five-game win streak with today's loss.
• Jackie Bates registered her third home run of the weekend and sixth of the season. Bates ranks second on the all-time list with 24 homers.
• Bates now has 102 career RBIs and is 11 away from moving into the top three on the all-time list.
• Rebecca Hall recorded the second home run of her collegiate career.

Results and upcoming schedule

3/13/15	vs. UW - Green Bay	Clearwater, Fla.	W, 11-5
	vs. UMass	Clearwater, Fla.	W, 8-5
3/14/15	vs. Central Michigan	Clearwater, Fla.	W, 6-1
	vs. Toledo	Clearwater, Fla.	W, 4-2
3/15/15	vs. Iowa State	Clearwater, Fla.	L, 5-4 (8)
3/20/15	at Indiana *	Bloomington, Ind.	6:00 p.m. ET
3/21/15	at Indiana *	Bloomington, Ind.	1:00 p.m. ET
3/22/15	at Indiana *	Bloomington, Ind.	12:00 p.m. ET

2015 Big Ten Softball Standings

	Overall		Conference
	W-L	%	W-L	%
Michigan	24-4	.857	0-0	.000
Minnesota	23-4	.852	0-0	.000
Purdue	18-8	.692	0-0	.000
Ohio State	13-7	.650	0-0	.000
Maryland	16-9	.640	0-0	.000
Rutgers	10-7	.588	0-0	.000
Michigan State	15-12	.556	0-0	.000
Northwestern	11-10	.524	0-0	.000
Wisconsin	13-13	.500	0-0	.000
Nebraska	12-12	.500	0-0	.000
Penn State	12-12	.500	0-0	.000
Illinois	8-15	.348	0-0	.000
Indiana	9-18	.333	0-0	.000
Iowa	8-18	.308	0-0	.000

Updated through all games of March 15.

Big Ten Players of the Week - Softball

Player of the Week
Lindsey Schmeiser, Maryland, Jr., SS/2B, Dunkirk, Md.

• Posted an .833 batting average, .857 on-base percentage and 2.000 slugging percentage as Maryland claimed a pair of wins over Lafayette
• Tallied three extra-base hits, including two home runs, over the weekend

Pitcher of the Week
Sara Groenewegen, Minnesota, So., RHP, White Rock, British Columbia

• Struck out 22 batters in three complete-game victories, allowing just 12 hits with a 0.64 earned run average (ERA)

• Pitched an eight-inning shutout against Cal Poly, giving up just three hits
• Leads all conference pitchers with an ERA of 0.96 and 155 strikeouts this season

Freshman of the Week

Rebecca Hall, Rutgers, 1B/DH, Fairfax, Va./Fairfax

• Notched at least one hit in each of Rutgers' four wins at the Michele Smith Spring Break Tournament
• Led the team with a .533 batting average over the weekend, recording a team-high eight hits
• Registered a 1.000 slugging percentage and .520 on-base percentage during the tournament
• Recorded her first collegiate home run against Green Bay
• Wins her first career Big Ten weekly honor

Baseball

The week was bookended with wins, bracketing three losses.  Opening the home season, RU took down Iona at Bainton Field before traveling to Terre Haute, Ind. for a four-game set.

Rutgers dropped the opening game of its spring break trip to Central Michigan, 3-1, Saturday on the campus of Indiana State.

RU (3-12) was held to five hits against Central Michigan starter Nick Deeg (3-1), who pitched seven shutout innings to earn the win. Junior Howie Brey (0-3) allowed just two earned runs and struck out seven over six innings in a tough-luck defeat. In relief, sophomore Max Herrmann tossed three shutout frames.

Sophomore Tom Marcinczyk went 4-for-6 with a home run to spark Rutgers baseball to a 12-8 win over Canisius Monday to close out the Midwest trip. The Scarlet Knights collected a season-best 14 hits and have scored double-digit runs in all wins this year.

Hitting his third homer of the season in the first inning, Marcinczyk extended his personal on-base streak to nine games and hitting streak to six. He added a double and two singles later in the contest, improving to 9-for-17 (.429) over his last four games. The outfielder leads RU with a .339 average, a .431 on-base percentage and a .589 slugging percentage in 2015.

Freshman Kyle Walker also contributed to the offensive output with a career-best three hits and three RBIs as the designated hitter. He scored twice. In addition, senior Vinny Zarrillo popped his second career home run - first of the season - and scored three times. Junior R.J. Devish contributed a pair of hits and junior Chris Suseck crossed the plate on three occasions.  On the mound, freshman John O'Reilly (2-0) earned his second win in as many starts for Rutgers.

Results and upcoming schedule

3/11/15	vs. Iona	Bainton Field	W, 12-3
3/14/15	vs. Central Michigan	Terre Haute, Ind.	L, 3-1
	vs. Central Michigan	Terre Haute, Ind.	L, 9-2
3/15/15	at Indiana State	Terre Haute, Ind.	L, 14-4
3/16/15	vs. Canisius	Terre Haute, Ind.	W, 12-8
3/18/15	at Ball State	Muncie, Ind.	3:00 p.m. ET
3/20/15	at Purdue *	West Lafayette, Ind.	5:30 p.m. ET
3/21/15	at Purdue *	West Lafayette, Ind.	2:00 p.m. ET
3/22/15	at Purdue *	West Lafayette, Ind.	12:00 p.m. ET

2015 Big Ten Baseball Standings

	Overall		Conference
	W-L-T	%	W-L	%
Indiana	13-4-0	.765	0-0	.000
Illinois	14-4-1	.763	0-0	.000
Maryland	11-4-0	.733	0-0	.000
Iowa	10-4-0	.714	0-0	.000
Nebraska	12-6-0	.667	0-0	.000
Ohio State	10-5-0	.667	0-0	.000
Michigan	11-8-0	.579	0-0	.000
Michigan State	8-9-0	.471	0-0	.000
Minnesota	6-8-0	.429	0-0	.000
Purdue	7-10-0	.412	0-0	.000
Northwestern	4-13-0	.235	0-0	.000
Rutgers	3-12-0	.143	0-0	.000
Penn State	1-13-0	.071	0-0	.000

Updated through March 15, 2015

Big Ten Players of the Week -- Baseball

Player of the Week

Austin Cangelosi, Indiana, So., IF, Orland Park, Ill.

• Helped the Hoosiers to a 5-0 week with a sweep of Eastern Michigan and No. 12 Cal State Fullerton
• Batted .500 (7-for-14) with four RBI, four runs, a home run, a pair of triples and a double in four games
• Drove in two runs with a home run in the eighth inning, helping the Hoosiers to a 2-0 win over Cal State Fullerton in game two

Pitcher of the Week

Mike Shawaryn, Maryland, So., RHP, Carneys Point, N.J. - Gloucester Catholic

• Picked up the win over Princeton, striking out 11 batters in 7.0 innings of work and improving to 4-0 this season
• Allowed six hits without a run
• Leads all Big Ten pitchers with 41 strikeouts

Freshman of the Week

Brian Hobbie, Indiana, RHP, Springfield, Ill.

• Earned two consecutive wins with no runs allowed, topping Eastern Michigan on Tuesday, followed by a win over No. 12 Cal State Fullerton on Saturday
• Struck out a career-high seven batters, allowing only one hit in 4.0 innings pitched against Eastern Michigan in his first career start
• Tossed 2.1 scoreless innings in IU's 2-0 win over Cal State Fullerton, allowing just one hit and striking out one