Jay Nelson, left, the head coach of the Scarlet Knights softball team, and Joe Litterio, the head coach of the Scarlet Knights baseball team

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Jay Nelson, left, the head coach of the Scarlet Knights softball team, and Joe Litterio, the head coach of the Scarlet Knights baseball team, are excited about the prospects of a new practice facility for their sports. “It’s not just the facility but what it represents,” says Nelson: “Rutgers coming through on promises and showing our student-athletes that the university is working hard to get us the things that we need to compete in the Big Ten.”

Photography: 
Nick Romanenko

To much anticipation, Rutgers University–New Brunswick broke ground last fall to build an indoor training facility for its baseball and softball teams. The Fred Hill Training Complex, named after the revered Scarlet Knights baseball coach who stepped down in 2013, is a 22,500-square-foot facility funded entirely by $3.3 million in private gifts. It will feature the latest in pitching machines, batting cages, and bullpen mounds, and a full turf infield. Head coaches Joe Litterio LC’94 (baseball) and Jay Nelson (softball), excited about how the facility will help their teams compete in the Big Ten, discuss its likely impact.       

Rutgers Magazine: Both of your teams have been forced to split their indoor practice sessions between the RAC on the Livingston Campus and the “the Bubble” on the Busch Campus, which are used by other programs, too. What will having a facility dedicated to your sports mean?

Joe Litterio: We’re going to be able to get into a routine where players know when their practices are every day. We’ll no longer have to work around the scheduling of a basketball game or a dance marathon. It’s going to open a lot of time for my guys to get to classes, the library, to a study hall.

Jay Nelson: When I first got here, we had to hit at 6:30 in the morning. Then we had a lift time at 4 p.m. Then we had our Bubble time from 6 to 8 at night. So we were in practice all day, with spots in between to go to class. Now we can plan our practices, and players can go in for extra work whenever they want.

RM: What will this mean for player development?

JL: A big part of becoming a better college baseball player is how much time you put in on your own. Now, they’re going to be able to get in there all day and improve themselves without coaches standing over them.

JN: Hitting is all about timing: the more you hit, the better your timing. It’s true with pitching, too. We need our pitchers to be throwing against our hitters.

RM: How will the new complex help you recruit athletes?

JL: To be able to walk them into a facility that is dedicated to baseball and softball is huge. We lose around three to five guys a year because of our lack of facilities.

JN: It’s not just the facility but what it represents: Rutgers coming through on promises and showing our student-athletes that the university is working hard to get us the things that we need to compete in the Big Ten.

RM: Considering the quality of competition in the Big Ten, how critical is the facility?

JL: Every place that we’ve been to has a stadium with a new facility that has everything players need to get themselves prepared. So, we will be able to get ready for a season on our schedule, get in there and hit, throw live, and be prepared to go down to Miami in February to start the season and face live pitching.

JN: We recruit nationwide, and some of the New Jersey athletes have been going out of state. It will help us get more local athletes and also help draw the kids who are in Southern California and Florida, who will know that they can come here and train year-round—even when it’s freezing outside.