PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball starts its seven-game spring break trip with a three-game series at Florida Gulf Coast beginning Friday. The Scarlet Knights will stay in Florida next week to meet Harvard Wednesday in Port Charlotte before playing three times versus Indiana State in Fort Myers.
 
All games will be have a free audio broadcast through ScarletKnights.com with Glen Gardner providing color analysis.
 
RU is coming off a 2-1 win in 10 innings in its home opener over Monmouth Wednesday at Bainton Field. Seven pitchers combined to hold the Hawks to one run with seven strikeouts and one walk. Senior Serafino Brito closed the final 2.1 innings, stranding five on base to keep the score tied. Sophomore Mike Nyisztor started the bottom of the 10^th by singling for his third hit of the day, with freshman Alex Russo later crossing the plate on a wild pitch for the walk-off victory. It was the first home game for the Scarlet Knights to need extra innings since May 5, 2015.
 
Rutgers has four wins on the season, with three coming in the final at bat. The first was a walk-off two-run single in the last of the ninth by redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi to beat Butler, 3-2, in a game played in New Orleans and the other was an 8-7 comeback victory in the ninth inning at USC Upstate. Freshman Chris Brito had the tying single and senior Tyler McNamara connected for the go-ahead hit.
 
McNamara is 5-for-9 with three walks for a .667 on-base percentage the past three games, owning a team-best .821 OPS on the season (.439 on-base, .382 slugging). Nyisztor and Dezzi are tied for the team high at 15 hits, as Brito and junior Kevin Welsh, who has knocked in seven, have both drawn nine walks. In addition, redshirt junior Kevin Blum is 4-for-4 stealing bases, with the team 15-for-18.
 
Sophomore Harry Rutkowski will make the series-opening start for the fourth-straight weekend. The left-hander pitched 5.2 innings and established a new career high with eight strikeouts last Saturday at USC Upstate, allowing one run. Junior Kyle Gerace is set to take the ball for game two for his second start. The right-hander retired the first nine to begin his outing at USC Upstate and leads the staff with a 0.99 WHIP through 12.1 innings in 2019. The Sunday starter will be determined later.
 
Out of the bullpen, redshirt junior Tommy Genuario has a team-high eight appearances on a 1.25 WHIP, while redshirt junior Steven Acosta is at 1.00 in six games.
 
Last year, Rutgers went 6-1 on spring break by sweeping Army, winning a midweek over FIU and taking the series at Florida Gulf Coast. It was tied the 2010 (6-2) and 1987 (6-3) trips for the most victories over a spring break. Luke Bowerbank led the offensive attack by hitting 14-for-26 (.538) with 11 runs scored on the trip, while Nyisztor collected 11 hits and 11 RBIs.
 
THE OPPONENT
Florida Gulf Coast, a member of the Atlantic Sun Conference, won their series with Quinnipiac by winning 2-of-3 last weekend. The Eagles also owns wins over Bethune-Cookman, LIU Brooklyn, Siena and No. 5 Florida this season. Friday pitcher Evan Lumbert is the reigning Atlantic Sun Pitcher of the Week after taking a perfect game into the seventh inning in his last start at Florida, working seven innings overall with six strikeouts. The right-hander has a 1.89 ERA on the season. At the plate, Joe Kinker recently won Atlantic Sun Player of the Week for hitting 8-for-16 last week with seven RBIs and seven runs scored. He has a .592 on-base percentage on the year. Head coach Dave Tollett is in his 17^th season.
 
THE SERIES
The series between Rutgers and Florida Gulf Coast is tied at five since first playing in 2012. The Scarlet Knights won 2-of-3 over the 27^th-ranked Eagles last year, winning the opener, 13-9, by pulling away with six runs in the seventh. Rutkowski then secured the series win by surrendering just one run over six innings with seven strikeouts in a 6-3 Saturday victory. FGCU avoided a sweep by salvaging the finale, 9-8.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers will play Harvard Wednesday at 2 p.m. in Port Charlotte. It will be the first meeting on the diamond since 2003.
 
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