LINCOLN, Neb. (April 6, 2022) – The Rutgers baseball team continues its Big Ten slate this weekend when it heads west to Lincoln to take on Nebraska in a three-game series.
At 22-6, Rutgers has its best record in program history through 28 games.
Rutgers currently ranks first among Big Ten teams in batting average (.326), doubles (75), doubles/game (2.68), ERA (3.08), fielding percentage (.979), hits (342), OBP (.422), runs (254), runs/game (9.1), shutouts (4), OPS (.921), WHIP (1.21) and BB/9 (3.70). RU's marks of batting average (4th), doubles (4th), doubles/game (6th), ERA (8th), hits (4th), shutouts (9th) and winning percentage (.786, 8th) are all top-10 in the nation.
Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed via Big Ten+, while Saturday's contest will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network.
- Rutgers picked up a 9-4 midweek win over Monmouth after a three-game sweep over Minnesota at Bainton Field last weekend.
- RU got 4.0 scoreless from Kyle Muller against MU, while Ryan Lasko's 2-run double was the difference in the victory.
- A strong start from Jared Kollar and home run from Josh Kuroda-Grauer helped lead RU to a 6-4 win on Friday.
- Nathan Florence (6.0 IP) and Garrett French (3.0 IP) each gave up just 1 run, while the Scarlet Knights hung 11 of their own for an 11-2 victory in game one of the Saturday doubleheader
- A strong effort from Ben Gorski (4.0 IP, 0 R, 5 K) out of the bullpen and clutch two-out hitting led RU to a 9-2 victory in game two of the doubleheader to lock up the sweep.
- The Scarlet Knights continue to be an offensive machine under hitting coach Kyle Pettoruto.
- Rutgers' team batting average of .326 is 32 points higher than the next-best Big Ten team (Maryland .294).
- Seven different qualified (2 PA/G) Scarlet Knights are batting over .300. All 10 qualified RU hitters have at least 12 RBI on the season.
- Nick Cimillo leads the Big Ten with a .423 AVG and .527 OBP
- Nick Cimillo and Ryan Lasko are first and third in the Big Ten in hits (Cimillo 44, Lasko 40)
- Cimillo (35), Lasko (33) and Danny DiGeorgio (30) are second, third and fourth in the conference in runs.
- Cimillo (1.267, 2nd), Tony Santa Maria (1.101, 8th) and Danny DiGeorgio (1.063, 10th) are all in the top-10 in the Big Ten in OPS.
- Cimillo (C, 16th), DiGeorgio (SS, 27th) and Santa Maria (3B, 29th) were all ranked in the top 30 at their respective positions by D1 Baseball last week.
- Under pitching coach Brendan Monaghan, Rutgers has made its mark as one of the top control teams in the country.
- RU is first in the Big Ten with a 3.08 ERA, with the next-best team at 3.59
- Friday starter Jared Kollar has emerged as one of the top pitchers in the country. He is tops in the Big Ten with a 9.8 K/BB ratio, 0.84 WHIP and 1.11 BB/9.
- The team has 11 games with at least 10 strikeouts this season with a high of 16 against Omaha on March 20.
- Dale Stanavich, a member of the NCBWA Stopper of the Year watch list, leads the Big Ten with six saves and has 28 strikeouts to just one walk in 16.1 IP.
- The three-headed bullpen monster of Stanavich (0.55/16.1 IP), Ben Gorski (1.45/18.2 IP) and Sam Bello (1.77/20.1 IP) has a combined ERA of 1.31 in 55.1 innings pitched.
- Sam Bello has not allowed an earned run in his last 13.2 innings pitched.
- Rutgers is 6-11 all-time against Nebraska and 6-8 since joining the Big Ten for the 2014-15 season.
