PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball plays it fourth-straight non-conference home game on Wednesday with a 3:30 p.m. matchup against Lafayette at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights posted a school-record 28 runs in last season's meeting versus the Leopards. BTN Plus is set to provide a one-camera broadcast, with WRSU 88.7-FM producing the radio call.
 
RU, winners of four of its last six games, enters the week a season-best six games over .500. The last time the team was seven over was at 30-23 following a victory over USF in the American Athletic Conference playoffs on May 21, 2014. In addition, Rutgers is just two wins away from matching its total number of victories last season, sitting at 17-11 compared to 10-18 at this same point in the year.
 
The Scarlet Knights most recently captured their sixth-straight series triumph by taking 2-of-3 over La Salle at Bainton Field over the weekend. Senior John O'Reilly pitched six shutout innings in the opener and junior Nick Matera went 4-for-4 with four RBIs to secure an 11-1 victory. The Explorers edged out a 1-0 game on Saturday, but RU responded to claim the rubber game, 11-3. That was propelled by a nine-run rally in the bottom of the fifth, with sophomore Eric Reardon pitching five innings on the mound with one earned run permitted.
 
For the series, the pitching staff surrendered just three earned runs. The team ERA is down to 4.31 through 28 games after being at 6.47 last year. Graduate student Karl Blum will make his second start of the season on Wednesday. The right-hander has 13 strikeouts in 13.2 innings.
 
Fifth-year senior Chris Folinusz has recorded two or more hits in five of the last six games to spark the offense of late. Matera finished the La Salle series with two doubles, two homers and six RBIs, as he leads the lineup with 12 extra-base hits on the season. Senior Kyle Walker has reached base in 24 consecutive games played and owns a team-high 12 walks draw, a .348 batting average and a .467 on-base percentage. As far as RBIs, freshman Mike Nyisztor is first with 21, while junior Luke Bowerbank is one behind at 20. Junior Jawuan Harris is up to 11 stolen bases this season to move within 14 of tying the career school record held by Doug Alongi (85).
 
THE OPPONENT
Lafayette will first host Lehigh in a makeup Patriot League game on Tuesday. The Leopards previously suffered a three-game sweep at Bucknell, but did beat St. Joseph's, 9-1, last Wednesday on the road. Luke Robinson has reached base in each of the last 16 games, bringing a 10-game hitting streak into the week.
 
Rutgers is undefeated in its last 22 matchups against Lafayette, going 21-0-1 back to 1994. Last year at Kamine Stadium, the Scarlet Knights plated seven runs in the first inning, six in the second and six in the third on the way to a 28-4 victory. It was the most runs scored in a game in program history and the 24 hits tallied were the most since 2010. Twelve different players had a hit, with Matera knocking in five runs. Rutgers leads the series, 71-29-1, dating back to 1946. RU has only played Seton Hall (111) more over that time period.
 
UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights will resume Big Ten play at No. 18 Illinois over the weekend. The three-game series begins Friday at 7 p.m. ET.
 
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