PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball is home for the second-straight weekend to host Purdue in a three-game series at Bainton Field. The set will start Friday at noon, moved up from the originally scheduled time due to inclement weather in the forecast. The Scarlet Knights have won their past four Big Ten contests.
 
WRSU 88.7-FM is set to deliver the radio broadcast Friday (Sam Marsdale & Randy DeGregorio), Saturday (Stephen Nelson & Matt Siriani) and Sunday (Corey Jason & Chris Tsakonas). The call each day will simulcast on the BTN Plus video stream. Live stats can be followed at ScarletKnights.com.
 
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' five-game winning streak was snapped Wednesday in a 6-4 setback to Hofstra. Freshman Jared Bellissimo left with the lead after allowing only one run over five innings, but the Pride rallied for five runs in the sixth. Senior Luke Bowerbank highlighted the lineup with a 4-for-4 showing, his second career four-hit game.
 
In recent action in the Big Ten, RU swept Michigan State last weekend at home with victories of 4-2, 6-3 and 8-0, never trailing in the series. 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 at 5-4. The team last achieved that record through three league series in 2015. Adding in the 15-3 triumph at Iowa, the Scarlet Knights have won four conference games in a row for the first time since winning six consecutive, home sweeps versus Temple and USF, as a member of the American Athletic Conference in May 2014.
 
The pitching staff has worked to a 2.90 ERA in the Big Ten so far, down from 5.76 last season. The five runs yielded against the Spartans were the least permitted in a three-game league series since holding Villanova to four in March 2013 as a member of the Big East.
 
Junior Tevin Murray is second in the Big Ten with a 1.06 ERA in conference play, having pitched six shutout innings with a career-high nine strikeouts last Sunday. The left-hander, who is 30^th in the nation with 12.13 strikeouts per nine innings, surrendered only one hit in the performance and earned Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. He will pitch the series finale, following sophomore Harry Rutkowski and junior Tommy Genuario in the rotation. Rutkowski leads the staff with 55.2 innings logged, holding a strikeout-to-walk ratio of 53-to-21. Genuario brings a 1.27 WHIP and a 2.97 ERA, which is 15^th in the league for the season, to the weekend.
 
Senior Serafino Brito owns six saves this year and 11 in his career to rank tied for seventh in the school record books. Junior Steven Acosta, who has pitched in 11 of the last 12 games, leads the Big Ten with 21 appearances in 2019, pitching to a team-best 2.42 ERA.
 
Offensively, sophomore Mike Nyisztor has been on base in each of the last 14 games as the leadoff hitter. He paces the team with 45 hits and nine stolen bases, while tied with senior Carmen Sclafani with eight extra-base hits. Sclafani has slammed four homers and knocked in 18 runs. Redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi leads the team with a .417 on-base percentage. In addition, junior Kevin Welsh is tied for fifth in the Big Ten with 24 walks drawn.
 
The last time the Scarlet Knights played at home on consecutive weekends was against Penn State and Nebraska in April 2016.
 
THE OPPONENT
Purdue won its midweek game, 5-3, over Butler after dropping 2-of-3 at home versus Iowa last weekend. The Boilermakers previously were swept at Nebraska, won two games against Penn State and took 2-of-3 at Northwestern in Big Ten play. Skyler Hunter owns a .409 on-base percentage and a .463 slugging percentage to lead the team, while Zac Fascia has clubbed two of the team's six homers. Andrew Bohm, who is set to start on Friday, went 5.1 innings with four runs surrendered last time out versus Iowa, having struck out 46 in 42.1 innings on the season. Purdue is tied for first the Big Ten with 31 double plays turned.
 
Head coach Mark Wasikowski is in his third season.
 
THE SERIES
Purdue leads the series, 6-5, since 1999 and holds a 5-4 advantage in Big Ten games after sweeping last season's series in West Lafayette. Rutgers played its initial Big Ten series against the Boilermakers, winning 2-of-3 on the road in 2015. Then in the first meetings at Bainton Field in 2017, Purdue won the first game before the Scarlet Knights rallied to take the next two.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers returns to the road to face Columbia Tuesday before hosting Iona Wednesday in a makeup game at Bainton Field. The next Big Ten series is at Michigan.
 
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