PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball finishes a five-game homestand Wednesday with a 3 p.m. encounter with Wagner at Bainton Field. This will be the ninth-straight season the Scarlet Knights and Seahawks meet on the diamond.
 
Stephen Nelson and Allie Palmer will broadcast the game on WRSU 88.7-FM and the call will simulcast on the BTN Plus 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 are coming off a 15-inning win over Ohio State Saturday at Bainton Field to finish the Big Ten-opening series with a 1-2 mark. Senior Tyler McNamara came through with his career-best fourth hit of the game to score junior Kevin Welsh from second base to end the longest RU game by innings since 2003, winning 3-2. The 15 innings tie for the fourth-most in an NCAA Division I contest this year. The series started with the Buckeyes scoring two in the top of the 11^th to win 5-3 on Friday before taking the first game on Saturday by holding up a two-run homer in the first inning, 2-0.
 
Rutgers, owning a strength of schedule of No. 35 nationally according to D1Baseball.com, is now 5-4 in one-run games this season and has had 13 of its last 15 games decided by three runs or less. After not reaching extra innings once last year, the team has done so four times in 2019 to match the total from 2014. The last season with five games in extra innings was 2013.
 
For the weekend, eight pitchers combined to permit only seven earned runs, the fewest amount surrendered in a three-game Big Ten series since joining the conference. Ohio State entered averaging six runs scored per game. The previous best was eight in the 2018 set versus Penn State. Adding in the performance with no earned runs yielded against Stony Brook in midweek action, the Scarlet Knight pitching staff combined for a 1.43 ERA last week (seven earned runs over 44 innings).
 
Sophomore Harry Rutkowski and junior Tommy Genuario each logged seven-inning starts against the Buckeyes, with junior Tevin Murray working six frames. In relief, all 10 inherited runners were stranded. Junior Steven Acosta appeared in all three games, the first RU reliever to pitch in all three games in a weekend series since Nathaniel Roe at William & Mary in 2013. He did not allow a run in 4.1 innings, while junior Eric Reardon worked a combined 5.1 scoreless in both ends of the doubleheader.
 
In addition, senior Serafino Brito ranks tied for ninth in program history with 71 career appearances, matching Ryan Fleming (2014-17), Rob Smorol (2010-13) and Jim Kohl (1988-91).
 
Freshman Jared Bellissimo is set to make his third start on Wednesday. The left-hander pitched five shutout innings last week versus Stony Brook with six strikeouts and only two hits allowed.
 
Offensively, Welsh brings a 19-game on-base streak to the week with a .371 on-base percentage for the season. Redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi leads the lineup in both on-base (.410) and slugging (.368) for a .778 OPS, tying McNamara for the team high at nine RBIs. Both junior Kevin Blum and sophomore Mike Nyisztor have stolen five bases.
 
THE OPPONENT
Wagner lost 2-of-3 at Central Connecticut State in Northeast Conference play last weekend. Previously, the Seahawks took the league series over Mount St. Mary's in a set played at Bainton Field. Joe Silvestrone leads the lineup with a .543 slugging percentage on four doubles, four triples and three homers, while Will Johnson has walked 20 times to post a .476 on-base percentage. The team ranks 12^th in the country with .48 triples per game. On the mound, Justin Beyer is set to make his third start of the season. A transfer from Niagara Falls Community College, the right-hander pitched six innings with no earned runs permitted to beat St. Peter's on March 20. Jim Carone, the 2018 NEC Coach of the Year, is in his eighth season leading the program.
 
Rutgers head coach Joe Litterio spent 12 seasons as the head coach at Wagner from 2000 to 2011. He left the program as the winningest coach in school history (240), guiding eight players to contracts with Major League teams, including 2009 AL Rookie of the Year and MLB All-Star Andrew Bailey. Litterio led the Seahawks to seven postseason appearances after the program had only qualified once previously in school history.
 
THE SERIES
Rutgers leads the all-time series, 24-4-2, over Wagner since 1960. The Scarlet Knights have won the last five, including an 11-4 triumph in the home opener on Feb. 27 of last season. Jawuan Harris collected four hits and four RBIs, with Carmen Sclafani finishing 3-for-4 with two knocked in. Kyle Gerace pitched five innings on the mound to earn the win.
 
Wednesday's game is the makeup date from the Feb. 26 postponement.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers heads to Iowa for a three-game series starting Friday. The Sunday contest will broadcast on Big Ten Network. The Scarlet Knights have won both Big Ten series over the Hawkeyes.

The #RBaseball pitching staff allowed only seven earned runs in three games against Ohio State last weekend, the fewest amount permitted in a Big Ten series* since joining the conference.

* - and happened to be the most innings (35) played in a Big Ten series! pic.twitter.com/bANbBTdZCO

— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) April 2, 2019

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