PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball welcomes Monmouth to Bainton Field for a Tuesday game set to start at 3 p.m. It will be the third home contest for the Scarlet Knights this season, as the next eight will be on the road.
Admission and parking are free, but all vehicles are required to be
registered to comply with Rutgers University policy. Only one registration per vehicle is needed for the season.
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Live Stats: Sidearm Sports
Most Recently: The Scarlet Knights seek a return to the win column after dropping four games last week. Following a 6-3 home loss to Saint Peter's, RU fell three times at Old Dominion, 3-1, 8-7 and 11-1. It was the 24
th consecutive season Rutgers and Old Dominion met on the diamond.
Redshirt sophomore
Richie Schiekofer reached base 12-of-18 plate appearance on the week with nine hits, two hit by pitches and a walk for a .600/.667/.867 slash line. He had one stretch of boarding the bases eight-straight times from Friday to Sunday. On the mound, junior
Harry Rutkowski provided a six-inning Friday start with a career-low two hits permitted, allowing one run and striking out five.
Hitting: Schiekofer, who has been on base in each of the last 11 games, has taken over the team lead at .358/.462/.566 for the season, recording three doubles, two homers and a triple. He also has driven in 11 and has six multiple-hit games. Redshirt sophomore
Tim Dezzi is next with five multiple-hit performances, while sophomore
Chris Brito holds a .417 on-base percentage on 12 walks and three long balls.
Pitching: Sophomore
Jared Bellissimo is set to make his second start of the season on Tuesday. The left-hander retired the first seven batters faced last week against the Peacocks, working three innings overall. Fifth-year senior
Steven Acosta, freshman
Matt Ciccone and senior
Eric Reardon pace the bullpen with six games each, with sophomore
Parker Scott holding two saves and a 1.08 WHIP.
The Hawks won the final two games at George Washington to capture the weekend series. Johnny Zega leads the offense with a .400 on-base percentage, while both Dennis Filipovski and Robbie Holmes have driven in seven runs. Cory Hiltz is set to make the start on the mound. The left-hander last worked Feb. 28 at San Diego and logged 1.2 scoreless innings. He previously went three innings with two runs permitted versus Penn State on Feb. 16. The MU pitching staff ranks 14
th nationally with 2.59 walks permitted per nine innings. Head coach Dean Ehehalt is in his 27
th season at the helm of the program.
All-Time: Rutgers leads, 31-9
Last Game: Rutgers 2, Monmouth 1, 10 innings (March 13, 2019 at Bainton Field)
Rutgers has won 31-of-40 meetings, including the last four. Last season, the Scarlet Knights came away with a 2-1 walk-off win 10 innings in the home opener at Bainton Field. RU used seven pitchers to hold the Hawks to one run, striking out seven, walking one and stranding nine on base as a unit.
Serafino Brito earned the win with a staff-high 2.1 scoreless innings of relief to keep the game tied until the Scarlet Knights scored on a wild pitch in the 10th.
Rutgers will play its next eight games away from Bainton Field. The 11-day spring break trip starts with a weekend series against Army West Point in Fort Myers, Florida, before playing at Florida Gulf Coast in a Tuesday midweek game. The trip will then conclude with the Big Ten-opening series at Ohio State on the backend weekend. A game at Rider on March 25 finishes the stretch.
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