PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball continues on the road with a three-game series at USC Upstate in Spartanburg, South Carolina, starting Friday. The Scarlet Knights defeated the Spartans in all three contests in the 2017 set between the teams.

UPDATE: Friday rained out
 
A free audio broadcast through ScarletKnights.com with Glen Gardner providing color analysis will be available for each game. Live stats will also be available.
 
The Scarlet Knights will look to return to the win column after dropping all three at Old Dominion last weekend. That series has been played each season since 1997. Senior Tyler McNamara led the lineup with four hits to go with a walk and three RBIs on the weekend, while sophomore Harry Rutkowski worked six innings in the series opener with two runs allowed and seven strikeouts.
 
For the season, freshman Chris Brito paces the team with a .831 OPS on a .424 on-base percentage and a .407 slugging percentage. Junior Kevin Welsh and senior Carmen Sclafani are tied for the team high with seven walks drawn, with Welsh scoring six times.
 
In his last starts as the Friday starter, Rutkowski has permitted just three earned runs in 13.1 innings. The left-hander's seven strikeouts last week matched his career high. The Saturday starter will be determined later. On Sunday, junior Tevin Murray will make his fourth start of the season. He leads the staff with 18 strikeouts in 11.1 innings. Junior Kyle Gerace holds a 1.17 ERA to lead the team, allowing just one earned run in 7.2 relief innings.
 
NOTES
RU has stolen 285 bases since 2016 compared to 190 by opponents … the Scarlet Knights went 19-5 last season when scoring six or more runs in a game and are 55-14 since 2016 … Rutgers is in the fourth of six-straight away weekends to start the season.
 
THE OPPONENT
USC Upstate, a member of the Big South Conference, dropped its midweek game at Wofford, 3-1, on Tuesday after taking 2-of-3 versus Ohio last weekend. Jack Hennessy leads the lineup hitting 11-for-32 (.344) with a .432 on-base percentage on the season. Jordan Marks will make the series-opening start. He has held opponents to a .182 average against with only three walks issued over 15 innings. Head coach Matt Fincher is in his 22^nd season.
 
THE SERIES
Rutgers leads the all-time series, 3-1, after sweeping in 2017. The Scarlet Knights outscored USC Upstate by the count of 26-11 over the weekend. Serafino Brito started off the series by pitching seven shutout innings and Mike Carter drove in four on the way to a 5-1 victory. Then in the middle game, Sclafani hit a three-run homer to spark a comeback in the sixth inning. Max Herrmann saved the 10-7 win with two scoreless innings. Jawuan Harris punctuated the sweep with three home runs in the finale to become the first Scarlet Knight to achieve the feat since 2002. Gaby Rosa took advantage of the run support to collect his 10th career victory on the mound, as RU ran away with an 11-3 triumph.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers will attempt to play its home opener on Wednesday versus Monmouth. The next series is at Florida Gulf Coast to open the spring break trip.
 
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