May 11, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - In a sprint to the finish, Rutgers baseball starts a stretch of eight Big Ten games in nine days to close the regular season with a three-game series against Illinois at Bainton Field. The set will begin with a doubleheader Friday at noon before wrapping up Saturday at 1 p.m. WRSU will call the nightcap of the Friday twin bill.
| Rutgers (17-28, 5-10) vs. Illinois (21-24, 7-11) - Bainton Field |
| Game 46 | May 12 - Noon ET |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - RHP Serafino Brito (3-8, 4.91 ERA)
Illinois - RHP Ty Weber (2-6, 5.24 ERA) |
| Coverage | |
| Promotions | Free Stuff Friday |
| Game 47 | May 12 - 30 minutes after |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - RHP Gaby Rosa (3-5, 6.55 ERA)
Illinois - RHP Cyrillo Watson (2-4, 5.59 ERA) |
| Coverage | | WRSU 88.7-FM |
| Game 48 | May 13 - 1 p.m. ET |
| Probable Pitching Matchup | Rutgers - RHP John O'Reilly (4-6, 5.73 ERA)
Illinois - RHP Matthew James (1-1, 5.04 ERA) |
| Coverage | |
| Promotions | 2007 Reunion | Beach Towel Giveaway |
 | Roster | Schedule | Statistics | Fact Book |
| Social Media | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram | Snapchat |
NJ.com: Carter brings a football mentality to the Rutgers baseball team
SENIOR DAY
The program will honor its eight seniors in a ceremony prior to Friday's doubleheader, with the group including Colin Bohnert, Christian Campbell, Mike Carter, Kyle Driscoll, Ryan Fleming, Max Herrmann, Tom Marcinczyk and Gaby Rosa. Driscoll joined the Scarlet Knights in 2013 in the team's last year in the Big East and remainder of the class competed as freshman in the American Athletic Conference in 2014 before entering the Big Ten in 2015.
Bohnert: Has pitched in 41 career games out of the bullpen … has not allowed a run in 5-of-6 appearances this season … 2016 Spring Academic All-Big Ten … led fundraising efforts for Vs. Cancer Foundation, which supports research and treatment of pediatric cancer … an economics and employment relations double major.
Campbell: Has appeared in 165 career games … started games at first base, second base, third base, shortstop and on the mound … pitched in 25 games with 11 starts … compiled 145 career hits with 32 doubles and 68 RBIs … struck out 61 batters in 78.0 innings on the mound … a sports management major.
Carter: Has played in 171 career games … one of 17 players in program history with over 200 career hits (203) … totaled 112 runs, 33 doubles, 97 RBIs and 28 stolen bases … a career .311 hitter … two-time team captain … three-time conference all-academic team … 2014 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-America … a communications major.
Driscoll: Has appeared in 40 games on the mound with 23 starts … totaled 124 strikeouts in 135.1 innings … racked up a career-high 11 strikeouts in a 2014 win over Cincinnati … held opposing hitters to a .175 average that season … a criminal justice and labor studies double major.
Fleming: Has made 67 career appearances with 12 starts … owns a 10-1 career record … credited with five wins out of the bullpen in 2016 … logged 132.2 innings with 105 strikeouts … leads the staff with 22 games pitched this season … a criminal justice major.
Herrmann: Ranks second in program history with 83 career games pitched … third in the school record books with 15 saves … logged 123.0 innings with 87 strikeouts … team captain … a Big Ten Distinguished Scholar … earned a spot on the CoSIDA Academic All-District II Team … maintains a 4.0 GPA as a graduate student in the School of Management and Labor Relations.
Marcinczyk: Has played in 200 career games … one of 17 players in program history with over 200 career hits (202) … fourth in school history with 14 triples, tied for fourth with 109 walks, eighth with 710 career at bats … totaled 120 runs, 36 doubles, 19 home runs, 123 RBIs and 28 stolen bases … 2015 Third Team All-Big Ten … 2016 Spring Academic All-Big Ten … a criminal justice major.
Rosa: Has appeared in 36 career games on the mound with 28 starts … owns 10 victories … logged 165.1 innings … started 54 games at shortstop in 2016 and collected 45 hits, 27 runs and 11 stolen bases … racked up 107 assists … 2014 American Athletic Conference Rookie of the Year … 2014 Louisville Slugger Freshmen All-American … a labor studies major.
2007 REUNION
Rutgers Athletics is hosting a reunion for the 2007 team on Saturday. The squad tied the program record with 42 wins on the way to capturing both the Big East regular season and tournament titles under the direction of head coach Fred Hill. Reaching as high as No. 23 in the national rankings, the Scarlet Knights earned the No. 2 seed at the NCAA Regional in Charlottesville, Virginia. Six players collected All-Big East honors, including Big East Player of the Year Todd Frazier. In addition, six players were drafted after the season and eight overall from the team.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights enter the weekend at 5-10 in the conference with eight games to go, needing to be in the top eight in the standings to qualify for the Big Ten playoffs. RU will travel to Minnesota for a Tuesday doubleheader before ending at Northwestern in a Thursday to Saturday set next week. Rutgers previously won series over Purdue and Iowa and took one game versus Michigan.
Illinois will mark the 13th and final Big Ten team to make its inaugural trip to Bainton Field. Rutgers is 5-6 in home Big Ten series since joining the league.
Rutgers has the No. 18 strength of schedule nationally this season according to D1Baseball.com and owns a top-100 RPI at No. 96. Out of the 11 previous weekend series, RU has played seven opponents that have seen time in the national rankings this season (Miami, Virginia, Old Dominion, Florida Gulf Coast, Maryland, Michigan, Nebraska).
Most recently, the Scarlet Knights suffered a three-game sweep at Nebraska. Down 6-2 in the eighth inning of the weekend finale, the team rallied for four runs on an RBI single by Carter and three-run homer by Marcinczyk to tie game the game. However, the Cornhuskers connected for a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth. Marcinczyk and junior Chris Folinusz both collected five hits over the weekend to lead the team. RU had at least 10 hits in each outing and has reached the mark in 12 of the last 17 contests.
Carter continues to pace the team in batting average (.348), on-base percentage (.412), hits (65) and RBIs (31). Sophomore Jawuan Harris popped his team-leading eighth home run last weekend and own a .488 slugging percentage with 23 stolen bases and 38 runs scored. In addition, Marcinczyk is tied for first in the Big Ten with 33 walks.
In the Big Ten play, Folinusz is hitting .410 (16-for-39) with six doubles and 10 RBIs. Marcinczyk is at .333 in league competition with 10 RBIs as well, while Campbell has 18 hits and 13 runs. Sophomore Nick Matera is batting .326 versus the conference.
On the mound, Rutgers will stick with the same trio, but sophomore Serafino Brito will slide to the first game, with senior Gaby Rosa and junior John O'Reilly following. Brito has started two previous series openers, including working seven shutout innings at USC Upstate. He has walked just 1.30 batters per nine innings, the 34th-best mark in the country, and owns a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 40-to-9. Rosa will take the ball for game two of the doubleheader for his final home appearance. The right-hander has worked into the sixth inning in his last three starts. Rounding out the weekend, O'Reilly paces the staff with 66.0 innings this season, having won two rubber games in Big Ten play.
NOTABLE
Rutgers is 43-13 since 2015 when scoring at least six runs in a game and 14-5 this year … the team is hitting .315/.405/.478 since having no games the weekend of April 7-9, averaging eight runs per outing over the 17-game stretch … the offense has slugged 35 home runs this season, the most since setting the school record with 71 in 2010 … the Scarlet Knights are fifth in the Big Ten with a .279 team batting average … RU ranks No. 36 nationally with 67 stolen bases … Campbell is on an eight-game hitting streak … Harris is 13th in the nation with 23 stolen bases … the Scarlet Knights have won their past eight home finales dating back to 2009.
SCOUTING ILLINOIS
The Fighting Illini come into the weekend after winning their last two Big Ten series over Maryland and Minnesota, previously winning 2-of-3 over Northwestern. The rubber game victory game against the Terrapins was decided on a walk-off home run by Mark Skonieczny in the bottom of the ninth inning. For the season, Jack Yalowitz leads the lineup at .347/.410/.619 with 11 long balls, 41 RBIs and 10 stolen bases. Pat McInerney paces the team with 13 homers. Friday starter Ty Weber holds a 5.24 ERA in 68.2 innings over 12 starts, with Joey Gerber collecting seven saves and holding opponents to a .202 average in 24 games. Overall, Illinois brings in a .260 team batting average and a 5.63 ERA.
Head coach Dan Hartleb in his in 12th season. Click here for the Illinois weekend preview.
THE SERIES
Illinois has taken all four previous meetings over Rutgers, including three wins as the No. 3 team in the nation in 2015. The Fighting Illini entered that weekend riding a 21-game winning streak. The finale of the series saw a combined 11 home runs between the teams. The first meeting between the programs went down as a 4-0 victory for Illinois on March 20, 1989 in a neutral-site game played in South Florida.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will start a five-game road trip with a Tuesday doubleheader at Minnesota. The first game will start at 3 p.m. ET live on Big Ten Network, with the nightcap following immediately on BTN2Go and on tape delay on BTN at 9 p.m. ET.
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific updates regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@BaseballRU), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball), Facebook (/BaseballRU) and Snapchat (rutgersbaseball).
