PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Having won its past five games on the road against ranked opponents, Rutgers baseball returns home to host a four-day pod at Bainton Field versus No. 17 Indiana and Nebraska. The Scarlet Knights have moved to within 3.5 games of first place in the Big Ten standings, while the Hoosiers are currently in first and the Cornhuskers in second. RU is in the midst of 14 consecutive games against the top four teams in the Big Ten standings.
In accordance with state, local and campus guidelines, Rutgers Athletics will increase fan capacity at Bainton Field this weekend. A pass list will be maintained for player guests, while a limited number of spots will be made available for the general public on a first-come, first-serve basis. Spectators will be required to show proof of a completed contact tracing form upon entry each day. Click
here for more information.
Big Ten Network+ is set to broadcast each of the six games of the pod, while WRSU 88.7-FM will call the four Rutgers games. Live stats from Sidearm Sports are available as well to follow.
Friday
Rutgers vs. Indiana (2 p.m.)
Big Ten Network+: Nick Kosko &
Matt Choquette
WRSU 88.7-FM: Ronnie Wielenta & Raj Shah
Saturday
Rutgers vs. Indiana (11 a.m.)
Big Ten Network+:
Matt Choquette & Joe Godri
WRSU 88.7-FM: Troy DeSavino & Chris Tsakonas
Indiana vs. Nebraska (3 p.m.)
Big Ten Network+:
Matt Choquette & Joe Godri
Sunday
Indiana vs. Nebraska (11 a.m.)
Big Ten Network+: Dominick Savino & John Beisser
Rutgers vs. Nebraska (3 p.m.)
Big Ten Network+: Dominick Savino & John Beisser
WRSU 88.7-FM: Dylan McCoy & Chris Tsakonas
Monday
Rutgers vs. Nebraska (11 a.m.)
Big Ten Network+: Dominick Savino & Pat Boyle
WRSU 88.7-FM: Raj Shah & Dylan Allen
Following taking 2-of-3 at then-No. 17 Michigan, the Scarlet Knights most recently took all three games at then-No. 19 and first-place Nebraska for the program's first conference road sweep since joining the Big Ten. It also marked the first time the Cornhuskers had been swept at home by a Big Ten opponent and first time suffering a home sweep in conference play since 2009.
In the series opener at Hawks Field,
Harry Rutkowski struck out seven to become the fifth pitcher in school history to top 200 career punchouts. The left-hander surrendered only two earned runs in six innings. Down 3-2 in the eighth,
Mike Nyisztor was hit by a pitch with bases loaded to tie the game as part of a seven-run outburst in the final two innings to win at Nebraska for the first time in six attempts, 9-4.
The Cornhuskers took a 5-0 lead after four innings in game two, but the Scarlet Knights scored one in the fifth on an RBI double by
Kevin Welsh and used back-to-back homers by
Josh Rodriguez and Nyisztor in the seventh to cut it to 5-4. Then in the eighth, Welsh connected for an RBI single off the previously unscored upon Nebraska closer Spencer Schwellenbach to even the game at five. Nyisztor led off the ninth with a single, moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by
Richie Schiekofer and scored the go-ahead run on a two-out, 0-2 single through the left side by
Evan Sleight.
Nate McLain stranded the tying run at third to earn the save and cap 5.1 scoreless innings of work from the bullpen.
Nyisztor led off the Sunday game with a four-pitch walk and scored immediately on an RBI double by Schiekofer, who also laced a two-run double in the fourth to expand the lead to 4-0. That proved to be plenty of run support for
Brent Teller, who worked seven scoreless frames with only two hits allowed and eight strikeouts.
Kyle Muller and
Dale Stanavich each posted a zero on the scoreboard to wrap up RU's first road shutout at a Big Ten opponent, 6-0. It improved Rutgers to 12-6 on the road after going 11-47 the previous five seasons combined in the Big Ten.
Hitting: Schiekofer recorded seven hits in Lincoln, while Nyisztor scored six times. Welsh drove in five in the series and is 6-for-14 with five walks and six RBIs during the five-game winning streak. Nyisztor is 8-for-14 over the same stretch and is third in the conference in on-base percentage (.485), fifth in batting average (.358) and is the toughest hitter in the league to strike out (once per nine plate appearances) for the season. Sleight brings a seven-game hitting streak into the weekend.
Both
Chris Brito and
Ryan Lasko have hit nine homers and look to become the first Scarlet Knight since Patrick Kivlehan (14) in 2012 to reach double figures in a season. Rutgers has hit 39 homers overall, the most for the team since blasting 71 in 2010. The 1.3 homers per game in 2021 ranks third in the conference and 27
th nationally.
Pitching: The Scarlet Knights will stick with the same first three in the starting rotation: Rutkowski,
Ben Wereski and Teller. Rutkowski is set to make his 41
st career start, and 27
th to start a weekend, and is 33 strikeouts shy of matching Bobby Brownlie for the school record (235). The left-hander is second in the Big Ten with 55.2 innings pitched, with six starts of at least six innings.
Wereski holds the top spot on the conference leaderboard for WHIP (0.98), walks allowed per nine innings (1.38) and wins (5), while ranking second with a 5:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio. He has logged five quality starts. Teller is the reigning
Big Ten Pitcher of the Week. The right-hander has allowed just two earned runs in his last three starts, recording 20.1 innings with 20 strikeouts and 10 hits permitted over the span. Teller ranks 36
th among active Division I pitchers with 220 career strikeouts, 18
th with 265.0 innings pitched and 22
nd with 43 games started.
The bullpen has six different pitchers who have combined for 11 saves, tied for eighth-most in a season in program history.
Nate McLain has not allowed an earned run in his last four appearances and holds a 1.93 ERA. Muller leads the staff with 14 games pitched with a 0.92 WHIP. Stanavich has fanned 21 from the bullpen, which worked 10.1 innings without permitting an earned run in the series at Nebraska.
Overall, the pitching staff ranks first in the league and 26
th nationally with only 3.25 walks allowed per nine innings, while sitting second in the Big Ten with a 2.49:1 strikeout-to-walk ratio and a 1.28 WHIP, moving up to fourth with a 4.10 ERA.
Indiana: Rutgers is 1-1 against the Hoosiers this season. Rutkowski allowed just one run over six innings and
Brian Fitzpatrick struck out the last five batters to earn the save in a 2-1 victory on Opening Day inside U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. McCade Brown then struck out 12 in seven innings in a 4-2 IU win to even the season series.
Indiana will be making just their second trip to Bainton Field, previously traveling to Piscataway in 2016. The Scarlet Knights won 2-of-3 that weekend. Overall, the Hoosiers leads the all-time series 9-3 with an 8-2 advantage in Big Ten games.
Nebraska: Last weekend's sweep in Lincoln narrowed the Cornhuskers all-time series lead over Rutgers to 9-6, with the teams now 6-6 in Big Ten play. RU is 3-3 versus Nebraska at Bainton Field, winning the rubber game of a series in April 2018.
The Scarlet Knights head back on the road for a four-game pod at Penn State. Action starts next Saturday versus Minnesota before taking on the Golden Gophers and Nittany Lions both on Sunday. The finale is set for Monday against Penn State, a game that is set to broadcast on Big Ten Network.
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