March 5, 2015
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Coming off a win in the series finale against Old Dominion, Rutgers baseball (1-6) will travel south once again to play a three-game series at No. 24 Florida Atlantic (11-2) starting Friday. Temperatures are expected to reach the 80s this weekend at FAU Baseball Stadium in Boca Raton, Fla.
| Rutgers (1-6) at No. 24 Florida Atlantic (11-2) - FAU Baseball Stadium |
| Game 8 | March 6 - 6:30 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - LHP Howie Brey (0-1, 2.13 ERA) vs.
Florida Atlantic - RHP Kyle Miller (1-1, 3.68 ERA) |
| Coverage | |
| Game 9 | March 7 - 1:30 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - LHP Mark McCoy (0-1, 7.27 ERA) vs.
Florida Atlantic - RHP Drew Jackson (2-0, 0.00 ERA) |
| Coverage | |
| Game 10 | March 8 - Noon ET |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - RHP Kyle Driscoll (0-1, 4.50 ERA) vs.
Florida Atlantic - RHP Robbie Coursel (1-0, 1.88 ERA) |
| Coverage | |
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights will fly to South Florida for the second time this season after opening with a four-game series at then-No. 9 Miami. Last time out, RU broke through for 13 runs on 11 hits to earn its first win of the season over Old Dominion, 13-9, in the series finale in Myrtle Beach, S.C. Eight of the nine starters scored a run in the victory.
Senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.) and sophomore Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.) both collected five hits in the three-game set versus the Monarchs, while junior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) connected for his first collegiate home run in the Sunday contest. Sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) led the Scarlet Knights with four RBIs on the weekend.
Rutgers will stay with the same starting rotation of junior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.), junior Mark McCoy (Barnegat, N.J.) and sophomore Kyle Driscoll (Toms River, N.J.) after the trio combined to permit only two earned runs over 16.1 innings (1.10 ERA) against Old Dominion. Senior Jon Young (Old Bridge, N.J.) leads the staff with four appearances out of the bullpen so far this year.
NOTABLE
RU does not have a home series until the seventh weekend of the season ... the Scarlet Knights won their final 13 games at Bainton Field last season, holding the second-longest active home winning streak in the nation ... RU drew 13 walks in the win over ODU, with six of them scoring ... Driscoll has had at least as many strikeouts as innings pitched in eight of 12 career starts ... the first six spots in the lineup have been the same six players for each game ... sophomore Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) has reached base safely in each of the seven games in 2015 and 32 of the last 33 dating back to last season ... Campbell leads the hitters with three multiple-hit games ... RU has scored more runs in the first inning (six) than any other this year, doing the same in 2014 (56) ... four of Marcinczyk's seven RBIs have come with two outs ... thirty-two of the 35 players on the roster hail from the state of New Jersey ... RU has played in the state of Florida in 33 consecutive seasons.
SCOUTING FLORIDA ATLANTIC
The Owls are currently ranked No. 24 in the D1Baseball.com poll and No. 25 according to NCBWA, having won their last five games. FAU owns wins over UConn, Miami (FL), Ohio State, Monmouth and North Florida this season. Led by a .394 average and three homers from Christian Dicks, the offense is hitting .305 as a unit with 31 extra base hits. In addition, the team is averaging nearly two stolen bases per game with 24 in 13 games. Saturday starting pitcher Drew Jackson has not permitted an earned run over 19.1 innings so far this season. The staff has worked to a 2.43 ERA overall.
Head coach John McCormack is in his seventh season at the helm of the Owls, having transitioned the program to Conference USA last season. Click here for more information on FAU baseball.
THE SERIES
Rutgers trails the all-time series to FAU, 17-7, with the first contest being played in 1985. The Scarlet Knights did take two-of-three in the most recent series in 2012.
March 11, 2012: RU 10, FAU 4 - RECAP | BOX
March 10, 2012: RU 6, FAU 3 - RECAP | BOX
March 9, 2012: FAU 5, RU 2 - RECAP | BOX
UP NEXT
Rutgers will attempt to play its opener at Bainton Field Wednesday at 3 p.m. against Iona. Following that, the Scarlet Knights will embark on a spring break trip that will include stops at Indiana State, Ball State and Purdue.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@BaseballRU), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball) and Tumblr.
