March 7, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers baseball will travel to Iona for a Wednesday midweek matchup. First pitch from City Park in New Rochelle, New York, is scheduled for 3 p.m. It will be the sixth year in a row the teams meet on the diamond.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights have played on the road for nine of their first 10 games, most recently contesting a three-game weekend series at Old Dominion. Junior John O'Reilly pitched 6.2 innings and the offense collected 15 hits on the way to an 8-5 victory in the Friday series opener. All eight runs were scored with two outs. However, the Monarchs rallied to win on Saturday and Sunday.
Senior Mike Carter led the team by hitting 8-for-17 in four games last week, adding four RBIs and four runs scored. He leads the team with a 1.030 OPS (.575 slugging, .455 on-base) through 10 games and is tied with classmate Christian Campbell for the team lead at eight RBIs. Both senior Tom Marcinczyk and sophomore Jawuan Harris have blasted three home runs to help the team to eight long balls, the most through 10 games since 2007.
On the mound, Campbell will make his second start of the season on Wednesday. The right-hander worked a career-high seven innings to beat Wagner last week, striking out four and walking none. He scattered four hits in the outing and permitted two runs. Campbell's other pitching appearance this season came on Feb. 19 at Miami, tossing two scoreless innings.
RU has already used the services of 18 different pitchers this season, with freshman Eric Reardon leading with five appearances so far. Both Kyle Muller and Tevin Murray made their collegiate debuts on Sunday at Old Dominion.
NOTABLE
Rutgers is 32-8 in games scoring at least six runs since 2015 … Marcinczyk hit two home runs in the Old Dominion series and now has 103 career RBIs … nine different players have made their RU debut so far this season … Carter is hitting 6-for-9 with runners in scoring position … Rutgers has 17 two-out RBIs … the team has scored most in the fourth inning with 11 runs plated.
SCOUTING IONA
The Gaels' scheduled Tuesday game versus St. John's was rained out, making Wednesday their home opener. Previously, Iona dropped a series at UNC Asheville after winning the series opener. The team did take 2-of-3 at North Carolina Central to start the year. Right-hander Stephen Hansen is projected to make the start on Wednesday. He pitched 4.2 innings with three earned runs allowed in a relief outing. Coming into the week, the Gaels were hitting .282 and held a staff ERA of 4.94.
Pat Carey is in his 12th season as head coach. Click here for more on Iona baseball.
THE SERIES
The Scarlet Knights and Gaels have played each year since 2012, with RU holding a 5-2 advantage over that span. Rutgers won 13-8 last year at Bainton Field behind a six-run rally in the seventh inning. The last meeting at City Park came in 2014, a 6-4 defeat. The Scarlet Knights have taken 24 of the last 26 meetings against the Gaels and lead the all-time series, 27-5.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will head to Jacksonville, Florida, to open its spring break trip with a four-game series at North Florida. The set will start Friday at 4 p.m.
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