April 17, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Coming off a Big Ten series win, Rutgers baseball returns to the diamond for a home-and-home midweek set against in-state rival Seton Hall. The Scarlet Knights and Pirates will first meet at Bainton Field Tuesday at 3 p.m. before playing at Owen T. Carroll Field Wednesday at 4 p.m. The Tuesday game in Piscataway will broadcast on BTN Plus and WRSU 88.7-FM.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights won 3-of-4 games last week, which began by scoring a school-record 28 runs in a rout at Lafayette in midweek action. After a ninth-inning rally fell short in the opener versus Purdue, RU came back on Saturday to win, 7-6. Fifth-year senior Max Herrmann preserved a one-run lead with a two-inning save, as sophomore Serafino Brito pitched six frames for the win. In the rubber game, junior John O'Reilly turned in the best start of his career that included retiring the first 19 batters faced to carry a perfect game into the seventh inning. The right-hander ended up pitching a career-high eight innings with seven strikeouts in an 8-2 victory.
Offensively, Rutgers scored at least six runs in every game last week for a total of 49 in four games. The team hit .371/.467/.608 overall, stole nine bases and walked 30 times compared to 17 strikeouts. Senior Tom Marcinczyk reached base safely in 10-of-13 plate appearances against the Boilermakers and crushed two home runs in the midweek game. Sophomore Jawuan Harris also had a productive week by hitting 7-for-14, with eight runs and four steals, while junior Chris Folinusz doubled three times and hit a single in six at bats. Sophomores Carmen Sclafani and Mike Martinez each collected six hits.
The Scarlet Knights' RPI moved up 13 spots after weekend action to No. 88. Eight Big Ten teams are currently inside the top 100.
Senior Mike Carter still leads the Big Ten with a .376 batting average for the season. He also paces the team with 11 doubles and 22 RBIs. Harris is ranked No. 10 in the country with 19 stolen bases to go with seven home runs. Marcinczyk is right behind at six long balls. Rutgers has blasted 25 big flies altogether to surpass the 19 collected last season.
Senior Christian Campbell is slated to make the Tuesday start on the mound. The right-hander went 5.2 innings in his last start at Villanova on April 5, allowing two earned runs and striking out five. He has punched out 24 in 32.0 innings worked this season.
Out of the bullpen, Herrmann now has five saves on the season and 14 in his career tie for third-most in program history. The school record is 18 held by Eric Brown (1998-2001). Senior Ryan Fleming leads the staff with 15 appearances on the season and is coming off 2.2 scoreless innings against Purdue. Freshman Joe Neglia closed out Sunday's win, holding the best ERA on the team at 1.64 in nine games.
NOTABLE
Rutgers is now hitting .271 as a team to move into fifth in the Big Ten … Martinez leads the team over the last 10 games with a .412 average (14-for-34) … RU is 40-9 since 2015 when scoring at least six runs in a game and 11-1 this year … the team is 11-3 when recording more hits than its opponent.
SCOUTING SETON HALL
The Pirates are coming off a series loss at Xavier after falling in the rubber game, 9-0. The team is at 16-16 overall and split a four-game series against Michigan to start the season. Joe Poduslenko leads SHU with a .407 on-base percentage and five home runs, while Ryan Ramiz has 12 stolen bases. Right-hander Andrew Politi will make his second start of the season on Tuesday and Chris Morris brings 19 strikeouts in 17.1 innings to mound on Wednesday.
Rob Sheppard is in his 14th season as head coach. Click here for more on Seton Hall baseball.
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Seton Hall split a midweek set last year, with each team winning on their home field. The Pirates won 7-6 in 10 innings and the Scarlet Knights came back with a 3-2 triumph in two tightly-contested games. The two programs have played every season since 1987 except 2014, with the Pirates leading the series, 57-53-1 in records dating back to 1946. Since head coach Joe Litterio took over the Scarlet Knights in 2014, RU has won 3-of-5 games.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will travel to Iowa for its first Big Ten road series of the season. The Scarlet Knights won 2-of-3 in the 2015 set between the teams.
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