PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Coming home after winning its opening Big Ten series, Rutgers baseball (5-14, 2-1) starts a season-long 10-game homestand Tuesday with a 3 p.m. contest against NJIT (6-6). The Scarlet Knights will also host Rider (3-11) Wednesday at the same time due to poor playing conditions at the Broncs' home field. RU brings a 14-game home winning streak into the week, the second longest active streak in the nation.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights return to Bainton Field after completing an eight-game spring break to the state of Indiana. The road trip ended with a conference series win at Purdue. Rutgers dropped the Friday opener against the Boilermakers, 9-5, but used two strong starting pitching performances to win Saturday, 4-1, and Sunday, 5-2. Junior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) tossed a season-long seven innings for the first victory and sophomore Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) followed with six effective frames. The staff held Purdue to a .215 average against for the three games.

Offensively, the Scarlet Knights broke through for 33 hits in the series, the most by a Big Ten team in the opening weekend of league play. Freshman Milo Freeman (Millburn, N.J.) went 5-for-6 on the weekend to earn Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week, while junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) went 6-for-11 versus Purdue. In addition, sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) scored five runs in the series and hit 15-for-32 with seven extra base hits on the spring break trip. He has reached base safely in 13 consecutive games.

Sophomore Kevin Baxter (Waterford, N.J.) is slated to make his fifth appearance and first start of the season Tuesday against NJIT. The right-hander won his last four starts in the regular season last year, winning five overall. Out of the bullpen, senior Jon Young (Old Bridge, N.J.) leads the crew with eight appearances, while sophomore Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) and freshman Ryan Wares (Howell, N.J.) have each entered seven times. Freshman John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) has two wins plus a save.

NOTABLE
Rutgers is 5-2 when logging 10 or more hits and 4-2 when scoring first this season ... the Scarlet Knights have stolen 23 bases in 19 games, ahead of the pace last year when the team swiped 34 altogether ... RU is 108-57-1 (.654) at Bainton Field since it opened in 2007 ... the offense has scored more times in the third inning (19) compared to any other frame ... thirty-two of the 35 players on the roster hail from the state of New Jersey.

SCOUTING NJIT
The Highlanders enter the matchup after splitting a home Sunday doubleheader against Niagara, winning the nightcap 7-1. Mike Rampone leads the team with a .426 average, while Jesse Uttendorfer is at .422. The pitching staff has worked to a 4.10 ERA through 12 games. Brian Guiliana is in his third season as head coach.

Rutgers has won all four of its meetings with NJIT, last winning 13-3 at Bainton Field in 2011.

SCOUTING RIDER
The Broncs had their weekend called off due to poor field conditions, last playing March 18 at Ohio State and losing, 7-2. The team is scheduled to play Tuesday against Lehigh before Wednesday's contest. Jake Bender paces the bats with a .308 average, while David Hafer has a 0.00 ERA in seven relief outings. Barry Davis is in his 11th year at the helm of the program.

Rutgers and Rider have met 62 times, with the Scarlet Knights taking 38. Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) helped RU win the matchup at Bainton Field last season, 6-4, with three RBIs. Baxter picked up the win on the mound and Young earned the save.

UP NEXT
Rutgers will play its first home Big Ten series versus Ohio State starting Friday. All three weekend games will be on BTN Plus and WRSU.

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