The questions currently facing head coach Kristen Butler for the upcoming 2022 season center on how to cut the opponents’ run production while finding a way to infuse offense for the Scarlet Knights. Of the position players returning this year, not one batted over .300 last season. On average, Rutgers was outscored by about five runs per game during the 2021 campaign.

Butler and assistant coaches Brynne Dordel and Natalie Yonan will no doubt be moving personnel around the diamond this season as they try to optimize run production while looking to find each player’s defensive strengths to determine their best positions. This year’s returning infielders and outfielders include....

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The sophomore tied for the club lead in doubles last season (7) with teammate Gabrielle Callaway, despite having 34 less at-bats. While she will likely see time in the outfield this season, Bock usually serves at the team’s designated hitter, and batted .202 while collecting 20 total hits in 43 games.

Certainly the fortunes of the Scarlet Knights this season ride with the return of last season’s leader in total hits (37), home runs (5), total bases (59) and slugging percentage (.444). In addition, the Mobile, Ala. native tied for the team lead in doubles (7) and RBI (17). Solid defensively at first base (.978 fielding percentage), Callaway started every game for the Knights last season.

As a first-year player, Chavez got 21 starts in the outfield last season, batting .218 with 12 hits and 18 total bases. Despite having just 55 plate appearances in 30 games played, she was still the team leader in triples (2) and posted a .909 fielding percentage.

The Academic All-Big Ten outfielder returns for her junior year after a disappointing season at the plate. After a freshman year that saw her bat .226 with 14 hits and two home runs, Fawcett’s bat cooled in 2021, collecting just seven hits and one RBI while batting .130 in 29 total games played.

The coaching staff will be looking for new ways to use Hendri this season, who saw limited playing time in her first year. An award-winning high school player, Hendri’s role was that of a pinch runner in her seven 2021 game appearances.

Returning for her sophomore season, Herka will look to improve upon her 2021 numbers that saw her split time between the infield and designated hitter in her first year. Batting .146 in her 41 plate appearances, Herka may be the power hitter the Scarlet Knights desperately need in the line-up. Of her six total hits last season, two were home runs—something that was in short supply for Rutgers (15 total) in 2021.

The Chino, Calif. product returns for her sophomore season after 35 game appearances in 2021. A standout high school player that saw her bat .411 in her junior year, the outfielder struggled at the plate as a college freshman, batting just .100 (4-for-40). Still, with a fielding percentage of .955 last season, Hura is likely to get the chance to prove herself in 2022 as the Knights will need to improve on defense.

After a freshman season at Syracuse, Lane came to Rutgers in 2020 where she played in 20 games. Last season, as a junior, her playing time doubled as the team’s starter at second base with a solid .941 fielding percentage. If she is to be a team leader as a senior this season, her offensive numbers will need to improve over her .093 batting average in 2021, when she went without an extra-base hit.

As a starter at third base in 2021, Lincavage was 4-for-9 in stolen bases, tied for the team lead in RBI with 17, while collecting 36 hits in her 127 plate appearances. The team leader in batting average (.283) for position players last year, Rutgers is hoping that the junior can improve further on her .409 slugging average and .942 fielding percentage to add stability to the Knights’ line-up.

Used predominantly on the base paths, Mancini sees the majority of her playing time as a pinch runner. In her 15 game appearances last season, she scored five runs but saw no time at the plate. It will be interesting to see if assistant coach Natalie Yonan will look to get the junior into the lineup more often this season, possibly at shortstop, to utilize her speed and base running talents.

The sophomore saw limited playing time last year, making only two starts in seven games with just four plate appearances. The Cherry Hill, N.J. native came to Rutgers with an impressive high school resumé, where she was a first team all-conference player in 2019 and the Female Athlete of the Year in 2020. One would expect her playing opportunities to expand in 2022.

The junior outfielder was an Academic All-Big Ten player in 2021, batting .214 in her limited (14) plate appearances. A starter in just two games last season, she made her way into 24 others, and while she only registered three hits as a sophomore, she made them count as she posted two RBI.

Generally inserted into a game as either a pinch hitter or pinch runner, Wilde saw action in just 12 games last season, following on her 13 game appearances in 2020. Now entering her junior year, the Nutley, N.J. native will be eager to get more than the seven at-bats she posted last season, where she failed to collect a hit.

But two new faces have joined the Scarlet Knights’ roster this year, and both will be looking to contend for starting jobs in the Rutgers infield.

The Norco, Calif. native comes to the Knights after transferring from Louisiana Lafayette following her freshman year. In limited duty (13 games) she batted .286 (2-for-7) in 2021, and will be looking to compete for the role of shortstop in her sophomore season.

Exactly where Rutgers chooses to plug in this talented freshman remains to be seen. Ranked no. 54 by Extra Inning Softball, Lawson was a two-time all-state and all-region player in N.C., having batted .522 as a freshman and .444 as a sophomore. While projected to be an infielder for the Scarlet Knights, Lawson was a four-year starter at Eastern Alamance High School as a shortstop, where she batted .472 during that time.

After a 2021 campaign which saw Rutgers post a .190 winning percentage, The Scarlet Knights’ coaching staff is looking to turn the team around in 2022. Whether the Knights’ returning talent can improve on last season’s disappointing numbers remains to be seen, but if Rutgers wants to close the competitive disparity with its Big Ten opponents, it will need to close the gap in its run differential.

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