PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers baseball will renew its rivalry against Seton Hall with a home-and-home midweek set. The Scarlet Knights and Pirates will meet Tuesday at 4 p.m. at Owen T. Carroll Field before competing Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. at Bainton Field. It will make it 29 of the last 30 seasons the New Jersey programs will play on the diamond.

BTN Plus will carry the Wednesday contest, while WRSU 88.7-FM will have the radio call. Click here for general parking information at Bainton Field.

SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights are riding a season-best three-game winning streak and have won six of their last eight. Last week, RU started off with a 5-0 home shutout win over Fordham before sweeping a home-and-home weekend set versus Saint Joseph's. Senior Howie Brey (Middletown, N.J.) worked six shutout innings and the offense collected 14 hits to take an 11-1 victory Friday at Bainton Field, while senior R.J. Devish (Beachwood, N.J.) propelled the team with three hits and three stolen bases in a Sunday away triumph, 6-4. Rutgers now has six true road wins and is 7-1 at Bainton Field, winning 13 of the last 15 at home dating back to 2015.

Devish currently has an on-base percentage of .534, which leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 8 nationally. He also paces the conference with nine times being hit by pitch, while being third with 31 runs, fourth with a .406 batting average, tied for fifth with 20 walks and 10th with 41 hits. Junior Mike Carter (Bloomfield, N.J.) has also been a factor offensively with a .413 average in 12 games this season, as fifth-year senior Chris Suseck (Flemington, N.J.) is at .309. Leading the team with four home runs and 26 RBIs, junior Tom Marcinczyk (Middlesex, N.J.) has reached base in 21 of the last 22 games.

In addition, fifth-year senior John Jennings (Berkeley Heights, N.J.) returned from injury last week and went 6-for-11 with four runs scored. Junior Christian Campbell (Sayreville, N.J.) also recently made it back in the lineup and has driven in nine runs over eight games, hitting five doubles.



On the base paths, the Scarlet Knights added five more stolen bases to bring it to 62 thefts this season in 72 attempts. The team mark leads the Big Ten by 12 and ranks seventh in the country. Freshman Jawuan Harris (Pembroke Pines, Fla.) paces the conference and is No. 10 nationally with 21 swipes, while Devish has 15 to sit third in the league. His total is first among all catchers in Division I baseball. Marcinczyk is also in double digits with a career-high 10 steals.

With there being only two games last weekend, sophomore John O'Reilly (Northvale, N.J.) will slide back to take the Tuesday start on the mound. The right-hander has logged at least six innings in his last four starts and is averaging 1.85 groundouts per every out recorded in the air. Freshman Serafino Brito (Oakland, N.J.) will make the Wednesday start after pitching five scoreless frames last week in a win over Fordham. He has struck out 23 this season compared to four walks.

In the bullpen, redshirt junior Max Herrmann (Rutherford, N.J.) leads the staff with 12 appearances and four double plays induced. He ended Sunday's win with a 10-pitch strikeout to strand the tying runs on base. Junior Ryan Fleming (Churchville, Pa.) has also been effective, having not allowed an earned run in his last six outings. And Campbell has struck out 11.08 batters per nine innings from the right side. Rutgers has pitched to a 4.12 ERA through 30 games, down from 6.30 at the same point last season.

NOTABLE
Rutgers is plus four wins from the same point last season … the 21 true road games played this year lead the Big Ten … the defense has made just two errors over the last six games … the catchers have combined for just two passed balls … the Scarlet Knights are 11-0 when out-hitting an opponent … the offense has scored 29 runs in both fourth and seventh innings … the last time Rutgers had an undefeated week was May 6-11, 2014 at 4-0 … there have been 13 games decided by two runs or less … RU has scored double digit runs six times this year and reached at least 10 hits on 11 occasions … Devish has reached base 25-of-47 times leading off an inning (.532) … Carter is hitting 8-for-14 with runners in scoring position (.571) … Rutgers is averaging 2.07 steals per game, sixth in the nation.

SCOUTING SETON HALL
A member of the Big East, the Pirates started conference play last weekend and dropped two-of-three at Creighton, but did have a 12-game winning streak earlier in the year. SHU has already played three other Big Ten teams this season: Indiana (2-0), Ohio State (0-1) and Iowa (1-0). Offensively, Derek Jenkins leads the attack with 37 hits and 32 steals, which leads the nation. Seton Hall has 89 swipes in 108 attempts, ranking second in the country. The pitching staff has worked to a 3.21 ERA this season.

Head coach Rob Sheppard is in his 13th season leading the program. Click here for more information on Seton Hall baseball.

THE SERIES
Rutgers and Seton Hall have played every season since 1987 except 2014, with the Pirates leading the series, 56-52-1 in records dating back to 1946. The two programs had a mutual conference bye last year and met in a three-game weekend series at three different venues. RU took the opener at Owen T. Carroll Field, 3-2, using strong pitching and a game-saving catch by Vinny Zarrillo in left field. On Saturday at Bainton Field, the Scarlet Knights clinched the set with a 4-2 victory. Brey pitched seven effective innings and the bats banged out 11 hits to win, 4-2. In addition, Devish threw out three runners attempting to steal. The Pirates salvaged the finale with a 16-5 win at TD Bank Ballpark, home of the Somerset Patriots.

UP NEXT
The Scarlet Knights will resume Big Ten play with a three-game series at Ohio State. The set will start Friday at 6:35 p.m. at Nick Swisher Field at Bill Davis Stadium, a venue Rutgers has never visited.

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