PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball hosts Ohio State in its first home series of the season at Bainton Field. The three-game Big Ten set begins Saturday and extends through Monday with 1 p.m. starts each day.
***All events at Rutgers Athletics venues operate in accordance with current statewide restrictions on gatherings. As a result, baseball games at this time are not open to the public.***
Big Ten Network+ is set to broadcast a one-camera stream for each game, with the WRSU call simulcasted Saturday and Sunday. The radio play-by-play from WRSU for the first two games will be available locally on 88.7-FM and
online worldwide.
Saturday WRSU: Dylan Allen & Ronnie Wielenta
Sunday WRSU: Jake Schmied & Alex Carmenaty
Live stats from Sidearm Sports are available as well to follow.
This weekend marks the first Big Ten series on the new Bainton Field. Thanks to the generosity of Ron and Pat Bainton, new FieldTurf was laid down in the fall of 2019, along with new fencing, padding and upgrades to the dugouts. The dimensions were altered to 329-370-392-370-324 (left to right) after being 330-385-410-370-320 in the past.
RU has won its past 12 home openers and 18 of the last 19.
Rutgers baseball mourns the loss of Ron Bainton,
who passed away in December. This season, the Scarlet Knights are proud to wear "RB" jersey patches in remembrance. To celebrate his legacy, we ask that you would consider
making a gift to the program in honor of Ron.
The Scarlet Knights are tied with Michigan for the Big Ten's lead at 7.2 runs per game. Rutgers has hit 17 homers in eight games, five more than second-place Maryland, to already establish the most long balls crushed by the team in a Big Ten season since joining the league. The next highest was 12 in the first season in 2015 (24 games). The 2.12 homers per game ranks third in the nation entering the weekend.
RU is coming off a four-game split at Maryland, winning both games Saturday. It was the second Big Ten doubleheader sweep for the program in conference play. The offense blasted nine homers with seven doubles and nine stolen bases in as many attempts against the Terrapins.
Chris Brito earned a spot on the
National Players of the Week list by Collegiate Baseball after hitting 9-for-18 with a 1.278 slugging percentage on four homers, two doubles and nine RBIs in College Park.
Josh Rodriguez was selected as the
Big Ten Freshman of the Week. The leadoff hitter started three of the four games with a hit and totaled 15 bases in the series, including a two-homer game and a .389/.421/.833 slash line.
Hitting: Brito leads the Big Ten with 15 RBIs and six homers (tied), ranks second with 13 hits and nine runs scored (tied) and is third with a 1.100 slugging percentage.
Jordan Sweeney holds the second spot on the conference leaderboard in RBIs with 13, while
Danny DiGeorgio is sixth with 10 knocked in. DiGeorgio is also tied for first in the league with five stolen bases, while Rodriguez matches Brito for second with nine runs scored. Brito, first on the team with a .514 on-base percentage, is the only Scarlet Knight to reach base safely in each of the eight games in 2021.
The 58 runs scored so far is the most for Rutgers through eight Big Ten games since entering the conference.
Pitching: The Scarlet Knights will stick with the same first three starting pitchers as the prior two weekends:
Harry Rutkowski,
Ben Wereski and
Brent Teller.
Rutkowski is one strikeout away from moving into a tie for 10
th in program history, posting six last week at Maryland and eight in the season-opening win over Indiana. The left-hander is set to make his 20
th start to begin a weekend on Saturday.
Rutgers Career Strikeouts
6. Darrin Winston (1985-88): 175
7. John O'Reilly (2015-18): 174
8.
Serafino Brito (2016-19): 171
9. Jim Jackson (1967-70): 169
10. Bert Garrett (1928-30): 166
11.
Harry Rutkowski (2018-present): 165
Wereski earned the win in each of his first two starts. The left-hander fanned seven most recently at Maryland, permitting just one run over six innings to beat Minnesota. Teller ranks 28
th among active Division I pitchers with 188 career strikeouts.
Out of the bullpen,
Brian Fitzpatrick picked up his second one-run save in the nightcap of Saturday's doubleheader. He joins
Kyle Muller with 3.1 scoreless innings recorded so far this year.
Eric Reardon is coming off stranding the bases loaded and retiring all five batters in his team-leading 68
th career appearance, three games shy of reaching the program's top-10 games pitched list.
Rutgers trails the all-time series against Ohio State, 9-3. This will mark the fourth Big Ten series between the programs and third at Bainton Field. Two of the most memorable Big Ten wins for the Scarlet Knights took place against the Buckeyes in Piscataway.
March 30, 2019: Playing in extra innings for the second time in the series,
Tyler McNamara hit a walk-off single, his fourth hit of the game, in the bottom of the 15th to deliver RU a 3-2 win over OSU. On the mound,
Tevin Murray pitched six innings with six strikeouts and two runs permitted. The bullpen followed with nine scoreless innings of relief.
Garrett French picked up four outs, with
Eric Reardon dealing a season-high 4.2 innings to move the game to extra innings.
Parker Scott followed with only one baserunner surrendered in 1.2 innings. Closing it out,
Steven Acosta earned his first win by collecting the final four outs pitching in his third game of the series. The Scarlet Knights did not allow a run in the final 12 innings and turned two double plays in extra innings.
March 28, 2015: Kyle Walker blasted a three-run home run in the bottom of the ninth inning to give Rutgers baseball a 4-2 walk-off victory over Ohio State at Bainton Field. It was the first home Big Ten win for the Scarlet Knights. Down 2-1 entering the home half of the ninth, Rutgers started its rally with one out when Chris Suseck drilled a double to the left field corner. Gaby Rosa entered as a pinch-runner and R.J. Devish walked to put two aboard. Next up, Walker worked the count to 1-1 before lifting an off-speed pitch over the wall in right, securing the win in thrilling fashion.
Rutgers travels to Purdue for a three-game series starting Friday, March 26.
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