COLLEGE PARK, Md. – Rutgers baseball is set for its first road test in Big Ten play when it heads south for a three-game series with Maryland.
The defending Big Ten Champion Terps are 17-11 and just took 2-of-3 on the road in their Big Ten opening series at Iowa. Rutgers opened Big Ten play at home against Michigan State last weekend, dropping 2-of-3 to the Spartans. The Scarlet Knights shut out Hofstra in their midweek contest, winning 5-0 and giving head coach Steve Owens his 1,000th career victory.
RU will switch up its rotation for game one, with Grant Besser getting the start on Friday. True freshman Christian Coppola will start game two and Jake Marshall will go on Sunday.
Friday's series opener will be streamed on B1G+. Saturday's contest will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network. Sunday's series finale will be broadcast nationally on ESPNU.
Fans can also follow along on Twitter for live updates. Live stats will be available for all three games.
Series History
Maryland holds a 16-7 advantage all-time against Rutgers, including an 11-5 mark in Big Ten play.
Team Notes
The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten in a number of key situational stats.
Their 27 doubles plays turned on defense are the best in the conference and the 12th-most in the country. Their 23 sacrifice bunts are best in the Big Ten and 11th nationally, while their 24 sacrifice flies are also the most in the Big Ten and the third-most in the country.
RU's two shutouts on the mound are best in the conference, as are the team's 300 hits on offense.
In the Box
Junior outfielder Evan Sleight continues his torrid streak at the plate for RU, leading the team with a .394 batting average, 1.168 OPS and seven home runs. In his last 18 games, Sleight is batting over .500 with an OPS over 1.500, six home runs and 19 RBIs.
True freshman outfielder Trevor Cohen has emerged as a rising star for the Scarlet Knights, ranking second on the team with a .371 batting average and striking out just 10 times in 133 plate appearances.
Junior centerfielder Ryan Lasko, who has a penchant for heating up during Big Ten play, had a strong opening weekend against Michigan State. He went 5-for-13 (.385) and homered on the first pitch on Saturday. Three of his five home runs this season have been on the first pitch of the first inning.
Junior first baseman Jordan Sweeney continues to improve every season on the Banks. He is hitting a career-best .297 in 28 games (all starts at first base), while leading the team with 23 RBIs.
Junior Cameron Love has emerged as the every day starter at second base and has started each of the last 25 contests for RU. He is third on the team with a .315 batting average, second with eight doubles and has been perfect on defense, having committed zero errors in 89 chances at second.
Sophomore Josh Kuroda-Grauer has been a model of consistency in his new role as starting shortstop. JKG has started all 28 games for RU, has 10 extra-base hits and has drawn 15 walks to just 11 strikeouts.
Redshirt senior Andy Axelson has stayed the course over his five-year career at Rutgers and has emerged as a key member of the lineup at catcher and designated hitter, batting nearly .500 with a pair of home runs and 14 RBIs while providing elite defense behind the plate.
On the Mound
After exclusively serving as a reliever, junior LHP Grant Besser moves into the starter role for Friday night's series opener. Besser started Tuesday's midweek game against Hofstra and threw a 1-2-3 first inning before making way for Justin Sinibaldi.
True freshman RHP Christian Coppola continues his role as the Saturday starter for RU. He has worked into at least the fifth inning in each of his last four starts. He has not given up more than three earned runs in a game this season.
Junior RHP Jake Marshall once again rounds out the weekend rotation. He pitched the first five innings of a combined no-hitter at Georgia Southern, striking out nine batters. Marshall had a streak of 10.0 innings without allowing a hit against GS and Mercer, where he struck out 17 batters.
Junior RHP Ben Gorski is having a breakout season in the bullpen for the Scarlet Knights. Gorski leads the team with a 1.37 ERA across 19.2 innings and has only allowed one extra-base hit to the 80 batters he has faced.
