May 1, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Rutgers baseball will close out the non-conference portion of its schedule with a Tuesday 1 p.m. matinee against Wagner at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights previously hosted the Seahawks on Feb. 28 and earned a 9-2 victory in the earliest home game on the calendar in program history. BTN2Go will have a one-camera stream of the contest.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights rolled to a 12-5 Friday triumph over No. 17 Michigan to take one game in the series. Sophomore Carmen Sclafani hit a pair of home runs, while junior Chris Folinusz roped a three-run double to break open the game. Freshman Kevin Welsh added a 3-for-4 performance and senior Ryan Fleming pitched 2.1 innings out of the bullpen for the victory. RU now has two wins over ranked opponents this season.
Rutgers climbed back inside the top 100 in the latest NCAA RPI listings, sitting at No. 90. The team has played the 15th-toughest schedule nationally according to D1Baseball.com.
For the week, Sclafani led the lineup by hitting .462/.563/1.077 with two homers, two doubles and two walks in four games. Welsh also sparked the offense with five hits, including a two-out, two-run triple to register a team-season-best nine-game hitting streak on Saturday. He paces the team with a .419 average over the last 10 games.
Senior Mike Carter became the 16th player in school history to reach 200 career hits with a single on Friday. He continues to lead the Big Ten with a .373 batting average for the season, also tied for first in the league with 63 hits, fifth with a .435 on-base percentage and ninth with a .527 slugging percentage. Carter owns a team-high 30 RBIs this season.
Senior Tom Marcinczyk is on the cusp of reaching the 200-hit mark with 197 currently to his ledger. The outfielder has 18 home runs in his career, including six this season. The total is second on the team behind seven from sophomore Jawuan Harris, who leads the Big Ten with 23 stolen bases. Rutgers has hit 31 home runs as a team this year after slugging 19 in 2016.
Senior Christian Campbell is scheduled to make his ninth start of the season and second against Wagner on Tuesday. The right-hander pitched a career-high seven innings with four strikeouts to earn the win last time versus the Seahawks, scattering four hits and two earned runs. He has worked 41.2 innings on the season over nine appearances.
Out of the bullpen, fifth-year senior Max Herrmann logged a career-high 3.1 innings without permitting an earned run in the series finale against Michigan. The left-hander is now third in program history with 81 career games pitched. Fleming leads the staff with 20 outings on the season, collecting 29 strikeouts over 27.0 innings.
NOTABLE
Rutgers is 42-12 since 2015 when scoring at least six runs in a game and 13-4 this year … the offense has registered 10 or more hits in 15 different games … Sclafani has reached base safely in 13-straight games, the longest active streak on the team … Carter is hitting .450 in non-conference games this season … Tuesday's game will be the first to start on the national NCAA Division I baseball schedule.
SCOUTING WAGNER
The Seahawks split a four-game home series against LIU Brooklyn over the weekend, taking the finale by the score of 12-0. The team currently has a 6-8 record inside the Northeast Conference. Phil Capra leads the team at .379/.451/.530 and 28 RBIs, while Sean Mazzio has crushed five home runs. Wagner owns a .261 team batting average a 4.46 ERA overall.
Head coach Jim Carone is in his sixth season.
THE SERIES
Rutgers won the February meeting, 9-2, behind Campbell pitching seven innings and knocking in two runs at the plate. Harris and Carter both had two hits, with Luke Bowerbank adding two RBIs. RU also won last season on Staten Island, 8-0, and lead the all-time series, 22-4-2.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will hit the road to face Nebraska in a three-game series starting Friday.
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