PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball heads to New Orleans this weekend to take on three new opponents in the Allstate Sugar Bowl Baseball Classic. The Scarlet Knights will initially face off with Butler Friday at noon ET before playing New Orleans Saturday at 2 p.m. ET and Chicago State Sunday at 10 a.m. ET. All games will be played at Maestri Field, home of the Privateers.
 
New Orleans will provide a video stream via subscription for the entire tournament, while each Rutgers game will have a free audio broadcast through ScarletKnights.com with Glen Gardner providing color analysis. Live stats will also be available.
 
The Scarlet Knights are looking for their first win of the season after dropping all three at Miami. It was the 10^th time in the last 11 seasons RU opened in Coral Gables, Florida. Rutgers, the only team in the Big Ten team to play a road series at a Power Five conference opponent to begin the season, used 12 newcomers throughout the weekend, including eight true freshmen.
 
Freshman Chris Brito led the lineup with four hits against the Hurricanes, with freshman Peter Serruto, redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi and sophomore Mike Nyisztor all collecting three. In addition, junior Kevin Welsh picked up three walks to go with a pair of singles.
 
On the mound, sophomore Harry Rutkowski will move up to Friday after striking out six in four innings in his season debut. Junior Tevin Murray fanned seven in his first collegiate start, allowing two earned runs and three hits over 4.2 innings. The left-hander is set to take the ball on Saturday. The Sunday starter is to be determined. Junior Kyle Gerace highlighted the relief corps with three shutout innings versus Miami, with redshirt junior Steven Acosta and freshman Garrett French not surrendering an earned run in two appearances apiece.
 
NOTES
RU has stolen 278 bases since 2016 compared to 185 by opponents … the Scarlet Knights went 19-5 last season when scoring six or more runs in a game and is 54-14 since 2016 … the team used 12 different pitchers versus Miami, with four making their collegiate debut … Rutgers is in the second of six-straight away weekends to start the season.
 
THE OPPONENTS
Butler, a member of the Big East, began with a 2-1 weekend against Rider in South Carolina. Harrison Freed blasted three of the team's six home runs and collected seven RBIs in the series. Friday starter Ryan Pepiot struck out nine over 4.2 innings, allowing two hits and four earned runs in his season debut on the mound. Dave Schrage is in his third season as head coach and led the Bulldogs to a 34-20 record last year.
 
New Orleans took 2-of-3 from Michigan State at home last weekend. Pearce Howard went 6-for-10 at the plate with three walks. Probable starter Chris Turpin tossed six shutout innings with five hits and no walks to beat the Spartans. Head coach Blake Dean is in his fourth season, posting a 29-32 record last season with a 14-16 mark in the Southland Conference.
 
Chicago State dropped all three at Pacific in a trip to California. Zack Stockton and Matt Sullivan both had four hits offensively. Brett Gregory is projected to take the ball Sunday after working two innings out of the bullpen last week. Head coach Steve Joslyn is in his seventh season. The Cougars finished 13-41 overall last season and play in the West Coast Conference.
 
THE SERIES
Rutgers has never played Butler, New Orleans or Chicago State in its history. The Scarlet Knights last visited Louisiana in 2002 for a series at Tulane.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers is set to play its home opener at Bainton Field on Tuesday at 3 p.m. versus Wagner. The next weekend series is at Old Dominion.
 
Follow Rutgers Athletics on Facebook and Twitter (@RUAthletics) for all of the latest news and updates. For specific content regarding baseball, follow the program on Twitter (@RutgersBaseball), Instagram (@rutgersbaseball) and Facebook (/BaseballRU). For additional updates, please download the Gameday App.