PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball returns home to take on in-state rival Princeton on Wednesday evening at Bainton Field. The game is set for a 5 p.m. first pitch and will also be streamed on B1G+ with Dom Savino and Emma Houghton on the call.
The Scarlet Knights (26-18, 8-7 Big Ten) most recently lost two-of-three at Purdue over the weekend. The Tigers (21-18, 12-6 Ivy League) just took two-of-three for a series win at Yale in conference play.
Game Info
Series History
Rutgers leads the all-time series against Princeton, holding a 56-38-3 advantage. The Tigers have won the last two contests, including a 9-7 victory last season at Bainton Field.
In the Box
The Scarlet Knights boast a balanced offensive attack, batting .293 as a team, with four regular starters batting over .300. Additionally, seven different players on the roster have at least 25 RBIs on the season.
Junior outfielder
Evan Sleight leads the team with a 1.112 OPS and 11 home runs on the season. He has started all 44 games in the outfield and has also recorded 24 extra-base hits.
Ryan Lasko leads the team with a .326 average, 59 hits, 46 runs, 13 doubles and 104 total bases. He is second to only Sleight with 10 home runs and has more walks (28) than strikeouts (27).
True freshman
Trevor Cohen is fourth on the team with his .306 average and has the fewest strikeouts (16) of any regular starter for Rutgers. Sleight, Lasko and Cohen have been the starting outfield for all 44 games this season for the Scarlet Knights.
After an All-Big Ten season as a true freshman, shortstop
Josh Kuroda-Grauer has significantly upped his power numbers, with his 18 extra-base hits (11 doubles, 4 triples, 6 home runs) eclipsing his total from a year ago. He was named to the midseason watch list for the Brooks Wallace Award, which honors the top shortstop in the country.
On the Mound
Rutgers has enjoyed strong outings from its pitching staff in midweek games, where RU is 11-0 this season.
Justin Sinibaldi has started six of those contests and has a record of 4-0 with a 1.17 ERA, having allowed just four earned runs in 30.2 innings with 24 strikeouts and 10 walks.
Sam Portnoy (10.1 IP),
Joe Mazza (9.0 IP) and
Jake Marshall (6.0 have combined for 25.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in midweek games, posting 21 combined strikeouts and allowing just 11 hits.
As a whole, the pitching staff has posted a 2.45 ERA with 92 strikeouts in 99.0 innings in midweeks, yielding a .208 batting average against.
