Midweek rainout for Rutgers Softball

It’s April in Central Jersey. No surprise that the mid-week softball contest against St. Joe’s was rained out. Hey, we had snow on Monday!

The Knights (17-16, 2-2 B1G) get a few more days to prep for Ohio State, which visits over the coming weekend beginning with a contest on Friday afternoon starting at 3 pm. RU is coming off a series win against Penn State, taking two of three games.

The Buckeyes (21-8, 2-4 B1G) are coming off a weekend series with Wisconsin where they took two of three at home. OSU is ranked No. 23 in the nation this week. The only other Big Ten team in the top 25 is Michigan at No. 17. Nebraska and Northwestern received votes.

Both teams are in the middle of the Big Ten in hitting while the pitching is a bit stronger for OSU. Rutgers has a .256 BA compared to Ohio State’s .254. In the circle, OSU is third best in the conference with a 2.40 ERA and 190 strikeouts in 201 innings. RU’s ERA is 3.77 with just 95 Ks in 228 innings.

Rebecca Hall continues to lead the Knights at the plate with a .385 BA, 32 RBI and 6 HR. That BA is good for fifth in the conference. Her 45 hits are fourth best in the B1G.

While Rutgers’ fielding is good - middle of the pack in the conference at .955 - it leads the country in double plays per game. They have turned 27 in 33 games. The next best Big Ten squad has 15 (Nebraska).

Junior shortstop Jess Hughes is in the midst of a career long hitting streak. At 14 games, she has hit in each game since March 10 against Pitt.

Big Ten Standings

Big Ten Players of the Week

Player of the Week

Tera Blanco, Michigan - 1B/RHP

• Batted .600 with a .692 on-base percentage and a 1.500 slugging percentage last week while registering three home runs, 10 RBI and five runs scored in four Michigan wins, including a Big Ten series sweep of Purdue
• Had three hits, including two home runs (her second career multi-home run game), and four RBI in middle game of Purdue series
• Added a grand slam in the series finale against the Boilermakers, finishing with a .750 batting average, an .818 on-base percentage and a 1.875 slugging percentage during the conference series

Pitcher and Co-Freshman of the Week

Meghan Beaubien, Michigan - LHP – Fr.

• Went 4-0 in the circle with a 0.00 ERA last week, allowing just two hits and striking out 25 in 17.1 innings pitched as the Wolverines won all four games they played, including a Big Ten series sweep of Purdue
• Tossed her second no-hitter of the season in the series opener against Purdue, striking out eight
• Contributed to a midweek no-hitter against Detroit Mercy with nine strikeouts in the first four innings of a five-inning run-rule victory

Co-Freshman of the Week

Rachel Lewis, Northwestern - 2B

• Batted .333 with a .429 on-base percentage and an .889 slugging percentage, three home runs, eight RBI and seven runs scored last week as Northwestern won three of five Big Ten games
• Hit two home runs in opening game of doubleheader at Illinois, before adding a grand slam in the nightcap against the Fighting Illini
• Reached base in all three games of series against Nebraska, scoring three runs as the Wildcats earned their first-ever series win over the Cornhuskers