PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After playing its first 12 games on the road, Rutgers baseball is set to take Bainton Field for the first time in 2019 by hosting Monmouth Wednesday at 3 p.m. Admission and parking are free, but all
vehicles are required to be registered to comply with a new Rutgers University policy. Only one registration per vehicle is needed for the season.
The game will broadcast on WRSU 88.7-FM with Allie Palmer and Matt Howe on the call. BTN Plus is lined up to provide a one-camera stream with a connection to the radio feed.
The Scarlet Knights have won their past 10 home openers and 16 of the last 17. This will be the 13
th season playing on the turf at Bainton Field, which opened in 2007. RU went 7-3 in non-conference home games last season.
Rutgers is coming off a 1-2 weekend at USC Upstate. Due to rain, the series began with a Saturday doubleheader that saw both ends decided by one run. The Spartans captured a 1-0 win in the opener with one in the sixth. Sophomore
Harry Rutkowski pitched 5.2 innings and established a new career high with eight strikeouts. The Scarlet Knights came back in the nightcap, pulling off an 8-7 victory. The team was down one heading into the ninth inning, but freshman
Chris Brito came through with a tying single and senior
Tyler McNamara followed with the go-ahead hit. Senior
Serafino Brito, who went 2.1 innings without permitting an earned run, closed out the bottom of the ninth. The rubber game was won by the home team, 13-4.
Junior
Kevin Welsh had five RBIs and redshirt freshman
Tim Dezzi picked up five hits last weekend. Dezzi leads the lineup with 14 hits on the season, while McNamara holds a team-best .405 on-base percentage. Senior
Carmen Sclafani, Brito and Welsh all have walked seven times. In addition, redshirt junior
Kevin Blum is 4-for-4 stealing bases.
The Scarlet Knights are planning to employ a bullpen attack on Wednesday. Redshirt junior
Tommy Genuario paces the staff with seven appearances, with Brito and junior
Eric Reardon both at six games. Junior
Kyle Gerace has 0.99 WHIP and redshirt junior
Steven Acosta follows at 1.20.
THE OPPONENT
Monmouth, a member of the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, won two games at Maryland Eastern Shore after losing to Lehigh to start last weekend. The Hawks also own a victory at East Carolina. Zach Schild is first on the roster with two home runs and eight RBIs, while JD Andreessen has 14 hits. Monmouth is also expected to pitch a bullpen game. Head coach Dean Ehehalt is in his 26
th season.
THE SERIES
Rutgers has won the last three in the series to take a 30-9 advantage all-time. The Scarlet Knights won both ends of a home-and-home in 2018. That started with a 7-6 victory in West Long Branch in April, as
Chris Folinusz delivered an RBI single in the top of the eighth to break a tie. Later on in May at Bainton Field, RU claimed another one-run victory, this time 4-3. Folinusz hit a single, a double and homered to highlight the offensive production, while Genuario earned a four-out save.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will head back to Florida for an 11-day trip over spring break. That starts Friday with a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast in Fort Myers.
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