PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball heads to Penn State this weekend for a Big Ten series that begins Friday. The Scarlet Knights enter tied for eighth in the standings with nine conference games remaining, while the Nittany Lions are currently in last place.
 
ScarletKnights.com will broadcast a free audio call throughout the weekend. In addition, BTN Plus is set to stream each contest.
 
PENN STATE PARKING ADVISORY
 
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights returned to the win column by defeating Rider Wednesday at Bainton Field, 5-4. Freshman Jared Bellissimo provided eight shutout innings on the mound with no walks and five hits allowed. RU is now 5-2 in games started by Bellissimo this season. Offensively, both redshirt freshman Tim Dezzi and junior Kevin Welsh each knocked in two runs. The Broncs rallied for four runs on five hits in the ninth, but sophomore Kyle Muller earned his first collegiate save by stranding the tying run on third.
 
In Big Ten play, Rutgers is coming off being swept at first-place Michigan to settle at 7-8 in the league, which matches Ohio State for eighth. That mark is only one game behind the trio of Illinois, Maryland and Minnesota at 8-7. In addition, 10^th-place Purdue (6-8) and 11^th-place Northwestern (6-9) are within striking distance. The top eight will qualify for the Big Ten playoffs.
 
This weekend will pit two of the top pitching staffs in the conference, with Penn State holding a 3.25 ERA in Big Ten games for fourth place and Rutgers slotted next at 3.29. RU has improved from a 5.76 league ERA in 2018.
 
The Scarlet Knights will stick with the same rotation as the previous five conference series: sophomore Harry Rutkowski, junior Tommy Genuario and junior Tevin Murray. Rutkowski is seventh in the Big Ten with 67.1 innings logged this season, picking up 68 strikeouts. Genuario has worked to a 2.79 ERA in five starts, holding a 1.30 WHIP overall this year. For Murray, the left-hander permitted just one earned run in 23 innings over four starts in April for a 0.39 ERA. He owns a 0.93 ERA against the Big Ten, which is third-best, while striking out 11.22 per nine innings in 2019.
 
In the bullpen, senior Serafino Brito owns eight saves and now ranks tied for fourth in program history with 80 career appearances. Junior Steven Acosta paces the Big Ten with 24 outings in 2019.
 
Sophomore Mike Nyisztor leads the RU lineup with a .380 on-base percentage in the Big Ten, while collecting team-highs with 52 hits and 12 stolen bases for the season. Dezzi holds a season OBP of .395 with 23 runs. Senior Carmen Sclafani continues to spearhead the team with a .383 slugging percentage on five home runs with 27 RBIs. Freshman Victor Valderrama brings an active 19-game on-base streak to the weekend, with senior Tyler McNamara at 18.
 
THE OPPONENT
Penn State lost 2-of-3 at home to Maryland most recently to move to 2-15 in the league, but 13-of-15 losses have come by two runs or less. Friday starter Dante Biasi ranks second in the Big Ten with a 2.01 ERA this season, striking out a league-high 90 in 62.2 innings. Opponents have hit.177 against the left-hander. The Nittany Lions are hitting .231/.328/.343 in 2019 with an average of 3.05 runs per Big Ten game. Jordan Bowersox holds a .405 OBP, while Gavin Homer and Kris Kremer have each popped four homers.
 
Head coach Rob Cooper is in his sixth season.
 
THE SERIES
Penn State swept the first Big Ten series at Medlar Field in 2015, but Rutgers won 2-of-3 in 2016 and 2018 at Bainton Field. Last season, John O'Reilly pitched a complete game with no earned runs allowed to win the Friday game, 4-1. On Saturday, Rutkowski worked 6.2 scoreless innings with seven strikeouts and only four hits allowed in a 1-0 victory. He was honored as the Big Ten Freshman of the Week following the performance.
 
Going back to 1939, PSU leads the series, 42-31. Both were members of the Atlantic 10 from 1984 to 1991, but did meet at a 2000 NCAA Regional held in Upper Montclair. Worth noting, Glen Gardner hit a home run to help sweep the 1987 set.
 
UP NEXT
Rutgers closes the non-conference portion of its schedule with a Tuesday game at Bainton Field against Villanova. The contest is set to start at 1 p.m. The next Big Ten series will be at home versus Northwestern.
 
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