PISCATAWAY, N.J. – After six weekends on the road, Rutgers baseball stays home to host Ohio State at Bainton Field in the first Big Ten series of the season for both programs. The Scarlet Knights and Buckeyes have not met on the diamond since 2016.
Each of the three games will be streamed through BTN Plus, with commentary provided Saturday by Lou Brogno and
Glen Gardner. WRSU 88.7-FM has the radio call all weekend as the Friday (Justin Sontupe and Troy DeSavino) and Sunday (Allie Palmer and Brad LoPrinzi) broadcasts will simulcast on BTN Plus. Sam Marsdale and Corey Jason will provide the radio action Saturday. Live stats can be followed at ScarletKnights.com.
Rutgers will sign autographs following Saturday's game. The 2019 team poster will be available at the marketing table each day.
Admission and parking are free at Bainton Field, 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.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Starting a five-game homestand, the Scarlet Knights snapped Stony Brook's eight-game winning streak, second-longest in the nation at the time, with a 6-5 victory on Tuesday. Redshirt freshman
Tim Dezzi smacked a pair of RBI doubles, senior
Tyler McNamara hit a sacrifice fly and freshman
Victor Valderrama launched a three-run homer to put RU ahead by six through three innings. Despite five unearned runs crossing for the Seawolves, the pitching staff held the lead. Freshman
Jared Bellissimo surrendered only two hits in five shutout innings for his first collegiate win, while junior
Eric Reardon came into the game in the eighth with tying runs on and picked up a strikeout to escape the jam. Senior
Serafino Brito collected his seventh career save by dialing up a strikeout with the tying run on third base in the ninth.
RU has now had 10 of its last 12 games decided by three runs or less and improved to 4-4 in one-run contests this season.
Dezzi, holding a team-high .814 OPS (.419 on-base, .395 slugging), has recorded two or more hits in six of the last 11 games, tying sophomore
Mike Nyisztor at eight multiple-hit games this season. Junior
Kevin Welsh has drawn 16 walks to lead the lineup and has been on base in each of the last 16 games, registering eight RBIs overall to match McNamara. Both Valderrama and senior
Carmen Sclafani own two long balls. In addition, Nyisztor and junior
Kevin Blum each have swiped five bases. The Scarlet Knights are 24-of-31 stealing bases as a team.
Sophomore
Harry Rutkowski will take the ball for game one coming off allowing no earned runs in seven innings against Indiana State last Friday. The left-hander has surrendered just five earned runs over 32 innings (1.41 ERA) in five outings since taking over as the series-opening pitcher, striking out 29 during that span. For the season, Rutkowski owns a 1.28 WHIP. The bullpen has permitted just four earned runs in the last 22.1 innings for a 1.61 ERA. Brito and junior
Tommy Genuario are tied for second in the Big Ten with 12 appearances in 2019. Junior
Tevin Murray has 32 strikeouts in 22.1 innings for a rate of 12.9 per nine innings, ranked 31
st nationally.
This will be the start of eight consecutive weekends, four home and four away, against Big Ten competition after having a conference bye last week. The Scarlet Knights captured their opening Big Ten series last season by winning 2-of-3 versus Penn State at Bainton Field.
John O'Reilly fired a complete game without permitting an earned run in the opener. The Scarlet Knights will open conference play at home this weekend for only the sixth time in the last 19 years.
THE OPPONENT
Ohio State wrapped up a nine-game homestand at 7-2 with a 9-4 victory over Toledo Wednesday night. The Buckeyes previously won 3-of-4 against Hawaii. Offensively, the lineup is 23
rd nationally this season with 23 home runs, led by seven by Dominic Canzone. Brady Cherry is next with six long balls to go with 10 doubles for a .677 slugging percentage. Garrett Burhenn is set to take the ball for the series opener after pitching seven innings with three runs permitted last Thursday against Hawaii. From the bullpen, Andrew Mango has four saves. In addition, the Buckeyes sit 17
th in the country with 23 double plays turned defensively. Head coach Greg Beals is in his ninth season and took the team to NCAA Regionals last year.
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Ohio State last met in Columbus in 2016, a series where Howie Brey pitched a complete game to lead the Scarlet Knights to a 7-4 Friday win before the Buckeyes answered with victories of 11-3 and 2-1. OSU was the first Big Ten opponent to visit Bainton Field in 2015, taking the series opener, 11-3. The Saturday contest was highlighted by a three-run walk-off homer by
Kyle Walker to give Rutgers a 4-2 comeback win. The rubber game was decided by a triple in the sixth that gave Ohio State a 1-0 win. Adding in a 2004 game at a neutral site, OSU leads the all-time series by the count of 5-2.
UP NEXT
Rutgers wraps up its five-game homestand on Wednesday at 3 p.m. versus Wagner. The next Big Ten series is at Iowa.
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