PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Following a 6-1 spring break trip in Florida, Rutgers baseball returns home this weekend to host Penn State at Bainton Field in a three-game series to start Big Ten play. The opener has been moved up to a 2 p.m. start on Friday, with 1 p.m. games slated for Saturday and Sunday. The Scarlet Knights are off to their best start through 18 games since 2001 and enter conference play with a winning record for the first time since 2005. All three contests will broadcast online through a one-camera stream from BTN Plus. WRSU 88.7-FM will have the radio call all weekend.
 
Parking will be available next to the Fred Hill Training Complex. No vehicles will be permitted to drive onto the left field hill.
 
The Scarlet Knights, who played 13 of their first 18 games in the state of Florida, swept Army in a series at a neutral site in Fort Myers, defeated FIU in a midweek game in Port Charlotte and took 2-of-3 at No. 27 Florida Gulf Coast to total six wins on spring break. It tied the 2010 (6-2) and 1987 (6-3) trips for the most victories over a spring break. In addition, Rutgers won six-straight contests away from home for the first time since 2003 and claimed a series over a ranked team for the first time since March 2013 at No. 4 Louisville.
 
RU has won three-straight weekend sets for the first time since May 2014 and will seek to take a fourth consecutive for the first time since claiming six in a row from March to April 2010. Rutgers is No. 65 in the most recent NCAA RPI out of 297 teams.
 
Junior Luke Bowerbank led the offensive attack by hitting 14-for-26 (.538) with 11 runs scored on the trip, while freshman Mike Nyisztor collected 11 hits and 11 RBIs. The team hit .320 overall with 64 runs over the seven games to move into first among Big Ten teams and No. 28 nationally with 7.5 runs per game this season. That has been propelled by 42 RBIs with two outs. The team batting average has improved from .259 to .293 compared to through 18 games last season, with on-base percentage rising from .343 to .378, runs from 90 to 135 and walks drawn from 68 to 77.
 
For the season, senior Kyle Walker leads the lineup with a .417 batting average, second among Big Ten hitters, and a .491 on base percentage, riding a 13-game hitting streak. Junior Nick Matera has reached base safely in all 17 games he has played and owns five doubles and one home run. In addition, Nyisztor holds a team-leading 19 RBIs, while redshirt freshman Dan DiGeorgio has scored 17 runs.
 
Senior John O'Reilly will once again start the series opener on the mound and will be followed by freshmen Harry Rutkowski and Eric Heatter. O'Reilly currently ranks third in program history with 40 career starts and ninth with 240.1 innings. He did not walk a batter last time out, posting a zero in 4-of-5 innings pitched at Florida Gulf Coast. Rutkowski picked up the win last Saturday by striking out a season-high seven over six innings with four hits and one run permitted. Heatter has left with the lead in all three of his starts, striking out 23 in 23.0 innings so far. The left-hander leads Big Ten pitchers with only 1.17 walks allowed per nine innings and a 7.67 strikeout-to-walk ratio.
 
Out of the bullpen, junior Serafino Brito paces the staff with 10 appearances with a pair of saves. He owns 17 strikeouts in 14.2 innings of work. Freshman Collin Kiernan has collected three wins with a 1.74 ERA as a rookie. As a unit, the pitchers have lowered the team ERA over two runs per game compared to at this point last season (7.50 to 5.26).
 
The Scarlet Knights will open conference play at home for only the fifth time in the last 18 years. It will be the earliest home conference game since 2000.
 
THE OPPONENT
Penn State is coming off a series win at home versus NJIT, taking 2-of-3. Before that, the Nittany Lions dropped 8-of-9 after sweeping the first weekend at Elon. The team has played eight one-run games and has split the decisions. Ryan Sloniger leads the lineup with 17 RBIs, while the team has connected for 10 home runs. Friday starter Justin Hagenman owns two wins this season with 24 strikeouts in 28.0 innings of work. Overall, the team is hitting .229 with a 5.78 ERA.
 
The Scarlet Knights won the last Big Ten series between the teams in 2016 at Bainton Field, claiming the first two contests of the weekend set before Penn State salvaged the finale. The Nittany Lions had not visited the RU campus since 1987 before that. Going back to 1939, PSU leads the series, 41-29. Both were members of the Atlantic 10 from 1984 to 1991, but did meet at a 2000 NCAA Regional held in Upper Montclair. Worth noting, Glen Gardner hit a home run to help sweep the 1987 set.
 
Penn State will be the first team to make a return trip to Bainton Field as a Big Ten visitor.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers will stay at home to host Princeton on Wednesday at 3 p.m. The game will broadcast on BTN Plus and WRSU 88.7-FM.
 
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