PISCATAWAY, N.J. – An eventful weekend is on tap for Rutgers baseball (19-26, 8-9) as the Scarlet Knights host Northwestern (21-23, 8-10) in a three-game series starting Friday at Bainton Field. It will be the final three home games for RU this season.
With inclement weather in the forecast, check @RutgersBaseball on Twitter and ScarletKnights.com for possible changes to start times.
On Friday, the team will cap efforts towards raising awareness and funds for the
Pediatric Brain Tumor Foundation's Vs. Cancer program. Over $4,100 has been raised so far. Saturday will be the
Fred Hill memorial celebration, which will take place at noon inside the Fred Hill Training Complex. Following the series on Sunday, the program will recognize its four senior student-athletes (
Luke Bowerbank,
Serafino Brito,
Tyler McNamara,
Carmen Sclafani) and five managers (Matt Bellantoni, Jimmy Catanzarite, Rosario Chiovaro, Phil Matalucci, Matt Webb) in a ceremony on the field.
Lou Brogno and Joe Godri will have the BTN Plus broadcast all weekend. WRSU 88.7-FM is set to deliver the radio call Friday (Sam Marsdale & Mike Pavlichko), Saturday (Randy DeGregorio & Justin Sontupe) and Sunday (Stephen Nelson & Matt Howe). 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.
2019 SENIORS
Luke Bowerbank: Has played in 145 career games with 102 starts … owns 105 hits, 70 runs, 51 RBIs and 21 stolen bases … has totaled 22 career games with two or more hits … the toughest hitter in the Big Ten to strike out in 2018 at once per 13.8 at bats … a criminal justice major.
Serafino Brito: Ranks tied for eighth in program history with 169 career strikeouts, tied for third with 82 appearances and tied for fifth with 13 saves … pitched 221.2 innings so far … led the team and ranked tied for sixth in the conference with a 2.59 ERA in 12 Big Ten appearances last season … a criminal justice major.
Tyler McNamara: A two-time Spring Academic All-Big Ten selection … has played in 88 career games with 55 starts … holds a career .363 on-base percentage … owns a .995 career fielding percentage (354 putouts, 35 assists, two errors) … an economics major.
Carmen Sclafani: A Big Ten Distinguished Scholar … a two-time Spring Academic All-Big Ten selection … leads the roster with 166 games of experience, 123 hits, 82 runs, 13 homers and 73 RBIs … became only the fourth Rutgers player since 2000 (first since 2010) with seven RBIs in a game versus Wagner on April 3 … named Big Ten Player of the Week on April 8 … a psychology major.
"This is a special group," head coach
Joe Litterio said. "They've impacted this program in many ways. Tyler has been a program guy since day one arriving as a walk-on. He has been a great teammate and waited his time. After a taste of playing time last year, he worked hard to earn the starting spot as a senior. He has been a leader by example. Carmen also had a 4.0 GPA last semester and has been very involved in the community. That speaks for itself. A great representative of Rutgers University. Brito has been an impact player for us on the mound and has done whatever we've asked. He has started, closed and pitched everywhere in between. Luke has been a kid that has grinded every day to get better. He works hard and has always been ready. These four have have meant a lot in more ways than just baseball. They have bought in to our culture in every way."
SCOUTING RUTGERS
The Scarlet Knights (8-9) are in sole possession of seventh place in the Big Ten standings heading into the final two weeks of the regular season, 1.5 games behind Illinois (10-8) for sixth. Northwestern (8-10) and Maryland (8-10) are a half game back of the Scarlet Knights in a tie for eighth, while Purdue (7-10) and Ohio State (7-11) follow. The top eight qualify for the playoffs. Here are the six Big Ten series on the schedule for this weekend:
Northwestern at Rutgers
Penn State at Ohio State
Michigan State at Iowa
Purdue at Illinois
Maryland at Minnesota
Indiana at Michigan
The eight Big Ten wins at this point for RU surpass last season's output and sits one shy of the nine earned in 2016, which is the high-water mark since joining the conference. The Scarlet Knights are 6-3 in league home games this season and 11-5 at Bainton Field overall.
The pitching staff bring a 3.11 Big Ten ERA, ranked third, to the weekend after posting a 5.76 league ERA last season. Junior
Tevin Murray leads the way with a 0.73 ERA in six conference starts, having permitted only three earned runs in 37 innings with a .162 batting average against. The best conference ERA (minimum one inning per game) for a Scarlet Knight in league play since 2000 was Rob Corsi with a 1.27 mark in 2011. Murray, holding a team-best 1.20 WHIP in 2019, surrendered just a single earned run in his previous five games over 31 innings. In addition, the left-hander owns 73 strikeouts on the year to rank tied for fifth in a season in program history. He is coming off a career-high eight innings with no earned runs permitted and nine strikeouts in a win at Penn State.
Sophomore
Harry Rutkowski had his start at Penn State stunted after two innings due to a thunderstorm. For the season, the left-hander has rung up 71 strikeouts, 11
th in a single season in RU history, over a team-high 69.1 innings. His best performance of the season was a 12-strikeout effort over eight scoreless innings in his last start at Bainton Field on April 19 versus Purdue. Rutkowski has induced a team-high seven double plays.
Junior
Tommy Genuario went five innings in relief with two runs allowed at Penn State. The right-hander has worked at least that much in each of his last six games. He is second on the staff with in both ERA (2.75) and WHIP (1.36) for the season.
The rotation will be Rutkowski, Murray and Genuario, with all three facing Northwestern for the first time.
Out of the bullpen, Brito has eight saves and a 2.81 ERA in relief this season. The right-hander is tied with Jim Jackson (1967-70) for eighth in the program record books with 169 career strikeouts. Brito and junior
Steven Acosta have both worked in 25 games this season, ranked second in the Big Ten. Also worth noting, freshman
Garrett French has not allowed a hit over 7.1 innings logged in conference play.
Sophomore
Mike Nyisztor is slashing .301/.370/.384 against Big Ten pitchers to lead the lineup, picking up 53 hits and 14 stolen bases to pace the team for the season. Redshirt freshman
Tim Dezzi holds a .381 on-base percentage, while Sclafani has connected for six homers on a .397 slugging percentage with 30 RBIs. Freshman
Victor Valderrama, who was
seen on SportsCenter after a catch to rob a homer versus Villanova, has reached base safely in each of the last 22 games. Junior
Kevin Welsh has the team season high at 24 consecutive earlier in the season, ranking tied for fifth in the conference with 29 walks drawn this year.
In recent action, the Scarlet Knights dropped a 4-3 midweek game to Villanova. Freshman
Peter Serruto, who has thrown out 40 percent of base stealers as a rookie, hit a two-run double to highlight the offensive production. RU split a pair of games at Penn State, with the rubber contest being rained out.
NOTES
Rutgers has totaled 340 strikeouts on the mound so far, ninth-most in a season in program history … the defense ranks second in the Big Ten and 46
th nationally with 39 double plays turned this season (17 turned in conference play) … the Scarlet Knights have scored a runner from third with less than two outs at a 60.5 percent clip in conference play … the pitchers have held Big Ten opponents to a .194 average with runners scoring position … Rutgers is out-scoring opponents by the count of 16-8 in the first inning in conference play … Rutgers is third in the Big Ten with 56 stolen bases for the season … RU is 11-1 when scoring six or more runs in a game and 65-15 since 2016 … the Scarlet Knights have played into extra innings six times (2-4) after zero such games last year, as it is the most extra-inning games since playing nine in 2011 … the staff holds a 2.41 ERA at Bainton Field this year … only a combined five homers have been hit at Bainton Field this season … the Scarlet Knights have scored 36 runs in the seventh inning, the most of any frame … Rutgers baseball was honored on Tuesday with the most improved male team GPA at the annual athletic department banquet.
THE OPPONENT
Northwestern took 2-of-3 at home versus Nebraska in its most recent Big Ten series. The Wildcats are 4-5 at home and on the road in conference play. Jack Dunn is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week and is hitting .343/.434/.388 in league play, while Alex Erro has 29 hits and 15 RBIs in such games. Friday starter Ryan Bader went seven scoreless innings with four strikeouts to beat the Cornhuskers last time out. The left-hander has struck out 33 in 46 innings this season. The pitching staff brings in a season ERA of 5.32.
Head coach Spencer Allen is in his fourth season.
THE SERIES
Rutgers and Northwestern have met six times as Big Ten opponents, with the Wildcats claiming five victories. Northwestern swept the 2017 series to close the regular season in Evanston, winning 2-of-3 at Bainton Field in 2016. The RU victory was by the score of 10-7 after R.J. Devish ripped a two-run double with the score tied at seven in the eighth.
The team first met in 1969, with Northwestern leading the all-time series, 7-2.
UP NEXT
Rutgers heads to Indiana for its final series of the regular season. It starts Thursday at 6 p.m. The Friday (6 p.m.) and Saturday (noon) games will broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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