The 2025 Rutgers softball season is upon us, and head coach Kristen Butler's squad will take the field on February 7, for the start of this year's campaign.
The team returns just eight players from last season who will look to form the nucleus of the current squad. Key returning players include talented outfielder Jillian Anderson (.288 AVG., 1 HR, 12 RBI), as well as the dangerous L.A. Matthews (.306 AVG., 1 HR, 34 RBI) at first base.
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Two returning pitchers known to RU fans include seniors Georgia Ingle (2-2 with a 4.70 ERA) and Lorelai DePew (1-0 with a 2.62 ERA), who are both likely to figure prominently in the success of the Scarlet Knights this season.
Other familiar faces include redshirt freshmen Hailey Stripling and Stephanie Kraska, as well as redshirt sophomores Gaelen Kelly (catcher) and infielder Bailey Briggs.
Undoubtedly, transfer junior infielder Siera Hoekstra will see plenty of action this season. The Overland Park, Kansas native comes over from Wichita State, where she saw limited action. She will be joined by her younger sister, Kelsey Hoekstra, who joins the Scarlet Knights as a freshman.
Other first-year Knights have been culled from around the country, and include Allison Amadio (New Jersey), Addie Osborne (Colorado), Riley Hwang (Virginia), Baileigh Burtis (Texas), Leah Sims (New Jersey), Ella Harrison (New York), Jayla Fuller (Georgia), Kelsie Riggan, Jayden Hutchison and Dezaria Johnson. Of these, Harrison, Hoekstra and Johnson will be pressed into action to anchor RU’s pitching staff, which saw the departure of their two best arms from last season.
Rutgers opens their season with 27 games away from Piscataway, with 22 of those on neutral fields. In fact, the Scarlet Knights do not play their first home game until March 11, when they host Wagner at the Rutgers Softball Complex. They begin Big Ten play just three days later, when they host the Maryland Terrapins.
RU opens with a doubleheader slated for 4:00 p.m. on Friday against Cleveland State, to be followed by a contest against Middle Tennessee at 6:30 p.m. The games will be carried on the FloSoftball network.
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