OMAHA, Neb. – No. 5 Rutgers baseball opens up play at the 2023 Big Ten Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at 3 p.m. ET against No. 4 Nebraska.
Should the Scarlet Knights win, they will play the winner of No. 1 Maryland vs. No. 8 Michigan State at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday. A loss would have RU play the loser of that game at 11 a.m. on Thursday, with the loser eliminated from the tournament.
The Cornhuskers finished the regular season 31-21-1 overall and 15-9 in the Big Ten, most recently winning two-of-three at Purdue.
The Scarlet Knights are 33-21 overall and 14-10 in the Big Ten. RU dropped two-of-three at Minnesota to complete the regular season.
The Scarlet Knights will start RHP Christian Coppola against Nebraska's LHP Emmett Olson.
Every game of the Big Ten Tournament will be broadcast nationally on the Big Ten Network. Kevin Kugler (PxP) and Danan Hughes (Analyst) will call the action on Wednesday afternoon.
Fans can also follow along on Twitter for live updates. Live stats will be available for all three games.
Series History
Nebraska holds an 11-9 advantage in the all-time series against Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights have a 9-8 advantage in Big Ten games, including a sweep over the Cornhuskers last season in Lincoln.
In the Rankings
The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten in a number of key situational stats.
Their 54 doubles plays turned on defense are the best in the conference and the fourth-most in the country. The team's 40 sacrifice bunts are also best in the Big Ten and rank 19th nationally, while their 38 sacrifice flies are the most in the Big Ten and the fourth-most sac flies in the country.
Additionally, RU's five shutouts on the mound are the most in the conference and the 14th-most in the country.
Outfield: The Catalysts
The starting outfield for RU also makes up three of the top hitters in the lineup, while all three also received postseason honors from the Big Ten.
Ryan Lasko (.332), Evan Sleight (.311) and Trevor Cohen (.288) have been the starting outfield for all 54 games and combine to hit .311 as a unit.
Lasko leads the team with his 73 hits, 58 runs, 18 doubles, 16 stolen bases and is second on the team with 52 RBIs.
Sleight's 26 extra-base hits are third to only Lasko and Chris Brito, while his 13 home runs are tied for the second-most on the Scarlet Knights.
A true freshman, Cohen is the second-toughest batter to strike out in the conference, striking out once every 9.6 at bats.
Brito: Rewriting the Record Books
Chris Brito has put together one of the most prolific offensive careers in Rutgers baseball history. He recorded his 200th career hit at Northwestern earlier this season -- an RBI double.
Against Penn State, Brito hit his 43rd career home run, breaking Todd Frazier's program record of 42.
Against Illinois, Brito recorded his 192nd career RBI, breaking the program record of 191, which was shared by Pete Zoccolillo and Jake Daubert.
Brito is now the only player in program history with 200 career RBIs.
JKG: Mr. Every Day
Josh Kuroda-Grauer has been a model of consistency in his new role as starting shortstop. Kuroda-Grauer has started all 54 games for RU, is hitting .301, has 24 extra-base hits and has drawn 27 walks to just 24 strikeouts. He was recently named a semifinalist for the Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the top shortstop in the country.
Starting Rotation: B1G Time
Rutgers has made a number of changes to the starting rotation in Big Ten play, which have already paid dividends.
Prior to April 14 against Michigan, no RU starter had pitched seven innings and RHP Christian Coppola had yet to throw a pitch past the fifth inning.
He has now thrown at least six innings in four of his last six starts and was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week for his seven-inning, 13-strikeout gem against Penn State three weeks ago.
In his last six starts, RHP Drew Conover has three outings where he has pitched seven innings and allowed one or fewer runs.
Gorski: Nails Out of the 'Pen
Junior RHP Ben Gorski is having a breakout season in the bullpen for the Scarlet Knights. Gorski leads RU with his eight saves and is second on the team with a 2.77 ERA across 39.0 innings. He has allowed a .188 batting average against and has given up just five extra-base hits to the 162 batters he has faced.
