PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Entering the week on a five-game winning streak, Rutgers baseball continues its homestand Wednesday versus Hofstra at 3 p.m. The Scarlet Knights, winners of seven of the last nine, are 7-2 at Bainton Field this season.
 
BTN Plus will provide a video stream with Lou Brogno on the play-by-play and Dominick Savino offering color commentary. Stephen Nelson and Allie Palmer have the radio call for WRSU 88.7-FM.
 
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
The Scarlet Knights have won their last five games and seek a six-game winning streak for the first time since doing so over spring break in March last year. RU won the series finale at Iowa, 15-3, before beating Lafayette, 9-3, on the road and sweeping Michigan State at home last weekend. It was the first three-game conference sweep since joining the Big Ten and vaulted the team into a tie for sixth in the league standings.
 
All three Rutgers starting pitchers went six innings against the Spartans, with sophomore Harry Rutkowski allowing two runs and junior Tommy Genuario giving up one. Junior Tevin Murray surrendered just one hit in his outing, striking out a career-high nine in the scoreless performance to earn Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. Led by a combined 6.1 innings and two runs permitted in three appearances each by senior Serafino Brito (two saves) and junior Steven Acosta, the bullpen closed out the final three innings in each victory.
 
The five runs yielded on the weekend were the least permitted in a three-game conference series since holding Villanova to four in March 2013 as a member of the Big East.
 
The Scarlet Knights never trailed last weekend, scoring in the first or second inning each day and tacking on from there. Sophomore Mike Nyisztor had six hits in the series, while junior Kevin Blum, senior Tyler McNamara and freshman Peter Serruto all drove in three runs.
 
Redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi, who is on an eight-game hitting streak, leads the lineup with an .802 OPS (.425 on-base, .377 slugging) and senior Carmen Sclafani holds a team-high .394 slugging percentage on four homers to go with 17 RBIs. Junior Kevin Welsh ranks tied for fourth in the Big Ten with 24 walks drawn. The offense has posted double-digit hits in seven of the last nine games after reaching the mark four times in the first 23 games.
 
Freshman Jared Bellissimo is set to make his fifth start of the season Wednesday. The left-hander went 4.2 innings with three runs allowed last week at Lafayette, with his best performance being five shutouts innings with six strikeouts versus Stony Brook.
 
Acosta has pitched in 10 of the last 11 games in relief and is tied with Brito for the Big Ten lead at 20 appearances this season. Brito is tied for fifth in the school record book with 77 career games on the mound and tied for seventh with 11 career saves, including six in 2019. The bullpen has stranded 68-of-104 (65 percent) inherited runners.
 
THE OPPONENT
Hofstra is coming off a 12-6 win to salvage the series finale after losing the first two games in a home conference series with Towson. The Pride are 2-7 in the Colonial Athletic Association so far. Vito Friscia leads the bats with a .935 OPS (.415 on-base, .520 slugging) on five homers. He has also knocked in 15, while Austin Pollack and Austin Gauthier have each swiped six bases. Steven Boscia is projected to make the start on the mound. The right-hander pitched a scoreless inning of relief last week versus Monmouth, and beat Manhattan the week before in a start by tossing six scoreless frames.
 
Head coach John Russo is in his eighth season leading the Pride.
 
THE SERIES
Rutgers leads the series, 8-6, against Hofstra since 1959. The last meeting was a 13-5 Scarlet Knight win on March 11, 2014 in the home opener that season at Bainton Field. Pat Sweeney went 4-for-4 to lead a 15-hit attack that saw seven runs cross in the bottom of the third.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers wraps up its seven-game homestand by hosting Purdue in a three-game weekend Big Ten series that begins Friday at 2 p.m.
 
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