PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- With its Big Ten season at the halfway point, Rutgers baseball starts an important three-game conference series against Michigan State Friday at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights (12-23-1, 5-7) sit ninth in the league standings, while the Spartans (19-16, 4-5) are eighth. The top eight teams qualify for the Big Ten Championships in late May.

BTN Plus will broadcast each game online with Danny Breslauer, Jason Goldstein (Friday) and Lou Brogno (Saturday & Sunday) providing commentary. WRSU will call the series on the radio at 88.7 FM.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights went undefeated in two non-conference games to open the week. The Scarlet Knights played to a 3-3 tie Tuesday at Lafayette in a game that was called after 12 innings due to darkness. Senior Jon Young (Old Bridge, N.J.) and sophomore Ryan Fleming (Churchville, Pa.) combined for five scoreless innings out of the bullpen to extend the game. Then on Wednesday, Rutgers jumped up to a 7-1 lead over Columbia, the two-time defending Ivy League champions, and held on to win at Bainton Field, 7-4. Sophomore Kevin Baxter (Waterford, N.J.) was effective over 6.1 innings on the mound and freshman Kyle Walker (Piscataway, N.J.) drove in three to spark the offense.

In its latest Big Ten action, RU dropped three at Indiana, with the first and last games of the series being decided by one run. Senior Joe D'Annunzio (Scotch Plains, N.J.) led RU with four hits against the Hoosiers, including a game-tying triple in the eighth inning on Friday. Rutgers owns series wins over Purdue and Minnesota.

For the season, senior Vinny Zarrillo (Forked River, N.J.) leads the bats with a .321 average on 45 hits. Seventeen of those hits have come in Big Ten play, second-most amongst conference players, as he is at .362. The outfielder has collected two hits in each of the last three games, leading RU with 13 multiple-hit outings in 2015. Having a break-through season, sophomore Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) paces the Scarlet Knights with five homers (tied fifth in the Big Ten), 23 RBIs, a .512 slugging clip (10th) and a .412 on-base percentage (15th). In addition, D'Annunzio is tied for fourth in the conference with 12 stolen bases, as RU is second as a team with 53 swipes on the season (42nd nationally) and first with 20 in Big Ten games.

Rutgers will stay with the same pitching rotation of junior Mark McCoy (Barnegat, N.J.), junior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) and sophomore Gaby Rosa (Perth Amboy, N.J.) for the fifth-straight conference series. McCoy has struck out 14 and walked zero over 11 innings in his last two starts. Also a left-hander, Brey allowed three runs in the first two innings at Indiana, but settled in to provide seven frames. He has fanned a team-high 41 in 47.1 innings, surpassing last year's mark of 40 in 76.1 innings. Rosa is slated for his sixth start of the season in the series finale. The right-hander is 14th in conference games with a .244 batting average against.

In relief, Young leads the staff with 16 appearances, finishing the game 14 times. He is tied for eighth in school history with 10 saves. Sophomore Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) has not allowed an earned run in five Big Ten games on the mound, while freshman Ryan Wares (Howell, N.J.) leads the bullpen with 22 strikeouts over 21.1 innings.

NOTABLE
Rutgers is 11-2 in games when leading after six innings and 8-1 when scoring at least six runs in a game this season ... the offense has collected double-digit hits 13 times and is 45th in the nation with 18 sacrifice flies ... the defense has played errorless baseball 13 times ... Marcinczyk has reached base in 28 of the last 29 games ... Zarrillo is the most experienced player on the team with 189 career games and 173 starts ... seven of Walker's 16 hits this season have come with a runner in scoring position ... RU has 53 steals in 36 games this year after posting 59 in 55 games in 2014 ... D'Annunzio is tied for seventh in program history with 12 career triples, being tied for first in the Big Ten and 11th nationally with five this season ... the Scarlet Knights have hit 13 homers this season in 36 games, having hit 14 all of last season ... Rutgers has played seven games against a ranked opponent ... the team is in its fifth consecutive week with five games scheduled ... thirty-two of the 35 players on the roster hail from the state of New Jersey.

SCOUTING MICHIGAN STATE
The Spartans are coming off a split of two midweek games at Comerica Park, beating Michigan and losing to Central Michigan. In Big Ten action, MSU went 2-1 last weekend at home versus Northwestern, but fell in previous series versus Ohio State and Illinois. Worth noting, the team picked up a sweep from April 3-5 at then-No.23 Oregon during its league bye.

Michigan State is ranked third in the Big Ten with a .282 team average, with Mark Weist leading the way at .329. Ryan Krill and Blaise Salter have each provided pop with four home runs and 30 RBIs. Friday starter Cam Vieaux is third in the league with 50 strikeouts on the season, also first with four pickoffs.

Head coach Jake Boss Jr. is in his seventh season at the helm of the program. Click here for more information on Michigan State baseball.

THE SERIES
Rutgers and Michigan State have not met since March 22, 1989 and all previous nine meetings took place in Florida (eight at Miami, one at Florida State) as non-conference matchups. MSU leads the series, 7-2, dating back to 1966.

UP NEXT
Rutgers will start a string of seven consecutive non-conference games Tuesday with a contest against Wagner. The Scarlet Knights' next weekend will be a series versus Seton Hall. Click here for ticket information for the Sunday game at the home of the Somerset Patriots.

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