Rutgers softball set to take on Maryland in doubleheader
The Rutgers softball team will take on Maryland this afternoon for a doubleheader at the Rutgers Softball Complex on Busch campus.
Last weekend, the Scarlet Knights (27-12, 4-2) faced off against Purdue, losing 2 out of 3 games and snapping Rutgers' previous nine-game winning streak. The three-game series against the Boilermakers (17-19, 2-6) was close throughout, as the Knights lost the first game by 1 run, lost the second game in extra innings and won the third game in a five-inning blowout.
Graduate student pitcher Jaden Vickers played well over the weekend against Purdue. She pitched 6.1 innings, allowing no runs and striking out nine batters over two of the games.
The Terrapins (26-8, 3-3) will present Rutgers with a challenging doubleheader. Maryland was swept in its first Big Ten series by Indiana, but the Terrapins rebounded last weekend by sweeping Michigan State.
In Maryland’s series against the Spartans (10-17, 1-5), the team held Michigan State to no runs in three games, thanks to the efforts of Courtney Wyche, who pitched 13 innings, allowed no runs and struck out 17 batters in two games.
Wyche has a 2.65 earned run average (ERA) and a 1.22 walks and hits per inning pitched (WHIP) through 95 innings pitched this season. Trinity Schlotterbeck is another strong pitcher for the Terrapins, and she has a 2.41 ERA and a 1.09 WHIP in 72.2 innings pitched this season.
The Knights will need to find success against these prolific pitchers if they want to get a win at home.
Rutgers and Maryland have similar offensive statistics. The Terrapins have a .304 team batting average, whereas the Knights have a slightly better statistic of .309. Rutgers also holds a slight edge in power hitting as it has a .889 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and has hit 32 home runs, whereas Maryland has a .864 OPS and has hit 24 home runs this season.
The Knights pitchers must pitch carefully to Jaeda McFarland as she leads the Terrapins with a .396 batting average and 10 doubles.
Rutgers has struggled recently against Maryland, as the Knights have lost their last five contests to the Terrapins. Rutgers last beat Maryland on May 7, 2021, by a score of 3-1. The Terrapins hold the slight edge in the all-time series with a 10-8 record.
Currently, the Knights hold a one-game edge over Maryland for third place in the Big Ten standings. Winning just one game of the doubleheader will ensure that Rutgers remains above the Terrapins in the standings.
The Knights already have more conference wins than they did last season, and they will look to continue growing their Big Ten win total against Maryland.
The first game of the doubleheader will begin at 1 p.m. this afternoon, with the second game scheduled to start at 3 p.m., and both games will be broadcasted on Big Ten Plus.
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