March 2, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - After winning its home opener on Tuesday, Rutgers baseball will return to the state of Virginia this weekend with a three-game series at Old Dominion starting Friday. It will be the 21st consecutive season that the Scarlet Knights and Monarchs meet on the diamond. All three games in the series will available to watch via a CUSA.tv subscription.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights beat Wagner, 9-2, at Bainton Field Tuesday to win their ninth consecutive home opener. It was also the first February home game in program history. Senior Christian Campbell pitched a career-long seven innings with only four hits and two runs allowed to earn the win, while also knocking in two runs at the plate. RU picked up five extra-base hits of its nine total.
Rutgers previously took on No. 13 Virginia in Charlottesville last weekend and challenged the Cavaliers to a three games that were all one-run contests into the fifth inning. However, UVA won each in the first meetings between the teams since 1962. Junior Milo Freeman led the Scarlet Knights with five hits in the series, as sophomore Jawuan Harris, senior Tom Marcinczyk and sophomore Nick Matera all blasted home runs.
RU also owns a 17-6 win over No. 17 Miami in the Sunday game of the first weekend of the season. Head coach Joe Litterio's team played six games in a row against top-20 competition to open the year.
Through seven games, Freeman leads the team in batting average (.375), while Harris and senior Mike Carter are both holding a .452 on-base percentage. Harris is also second in the Big Ten with a .885 slugging percentage that includes three doubles, one triple and three home runs. He has reached base safely in each of the last 27 games played dating back to 2016, the longest by a Scarlet Knight since Patrick Kivlehan made it on in the last 28 games of the 2012 season.
On the mound, junior John O'Reilly will make the Friday start once again. The right-hander has worked 12.0 innings so far with a .245 batting average against. He tossed six innings in a start at ODU last year to help RU to a Sunday win, allowing five singles and only two runs with 11 outs recorded on the ground. Sophomore Serafino Brito, who was credited the win in that game with two innings of scoreless relief, will follow and start on Saturday. He has yet to permit a walk in 11.0 innings pitched this year.
RU has already used the services of 15 different pitchers this season, with sophomore Ryan Wares and freshman Eric Reardon leading with three appearances each.
NOTABLE
This series marks the third of six weekends away to start the campaign … Rutgers had six homers through six games, its most through two weekends since 2007 … Brito is one of 46 qualifying pitchers nationally who have yet to yield a walk this year … Marcinczyk is one RBI away from reaching 100 for his career … Campbell leads the team hitting 6-for-10 with runners in scoring position … six of Freeman's nine hits this year have come with two outs … seven players have made their collegiate debut so far … Rutgers is 31-8 in games scoring at least six runs since 2015.
SCOUTING OLD DOMINION
The Monarchs have won six of their first seven games to start the season, including a 5-4 win in 10 innings at VCU on Tuesday. ODU also swept LIU Brooklyn, won games over Delaware and St. Joseph's and lost to Kentucky in the early going. Shaun Wood leads the bats with a .438 average, while Culver Lamb and Nick Walker have each knocked in eight. Friday starter Sam Sinnen will be making his first start in 2017 after working six innings of relief with five strikeouts in two previous relief appearances.
Head coach Chris Finwood in his sixth season as the leader of the program. Click here for the full Old Dominion weekend preview.
THE SERIES
Dating back to 1997, this will be the 21st consecutive season the Scarlet Knights and Monarchs meet on the diamond, with 19 of those happening in Norfolk, Va. The 2015 series was moved to Myrtle Beach, S.C. due to inclement weather. Rutgers leads the all-time series, 34-23, but the Old Dominion has won the last three series. Overall, RU is 11-8-1 in prior sets.
In the last game in 2016, Matera broke a 2-2 tie with a two-out RBI single in the eighth to give the Scarlet Knights the edge needed. He also popped his first career long ball previously in the series.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will play a Wednesday game at Iona before traveling to North Florida to start its spring break trip.
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