PISCATAWAY, N.J.. – Rutgers baseball returns home to Bainton Field to take on Penn State in a three-game series in Big Ten play.
The Nittany Lions are 24-15 overall and 6-8 in the Big Ten, which includes a sweep over Ohio State. They most recently split two games against Iowa, with the series finale canceled due to weather.
Rutgers sits at 27-18 overall and 8-7 in the Big Ten. RU recently wrapped up an eight-game road trip that featured a sweep at Northwestern before dropping two-of-three at Purdue last weekend.
The Scarlet Knights will start RHP Christian Coppola on Friday night against PSU's RHP Jaden Henline. The rest of the weekend's pitching matchups are TBD.
All three games of the series will be streamed on B1G+.
Dom Savino (PxP) and Pat Boyle (Analyst) will call Friday and Saturday's games, while Pat Boyle (PxP) will have the call Sunday.
Fans can also follow along on Twitter for live updates. Live stats will be available for all three games.
Promotions
- Friday: Steve Owens bobblehead giveaway (First 300 fans)
- Saturday: Letterwinners Day
- Sunday Special Olympics Day, Bark in the Park, Dollar Dog Day ($1 Hot Dogs)
Series History
Penn State holds a 47-37 advantage all-time against Rutgers, including a 12-9 mark in Big Ten play. The last meeting was a 5-4 RU win in the 2022 Big Ten Tournament. The Scarlet Knights won two-of-three in Happy Valley in 2022.
in the Rankings
The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten in a number of key situational stats.
Their 45 doubles plays turned on defense are the best in the conference and the third-most in the country. The team's 35 sacrifice bunts are also best in the Big Ten and rank 14th nationally, while their 34 sacrifice flies are the most in the Big Ten and the second-most sac flies in the country.
Additionally, RU's three shutouts on the mound are the most in the conference.
Outfield: The Catalysts
The starting outfield for RU also makes up the top three hitters in the lineup.
Ryan Lasko (.333), Evan Sleight (.321) and Trevor Cohen (.308) have been the starting outfield for all 41 games and combine to hit .321 as a unit.
Lasko leads the team with his 62 hits, 48 runs, 13 doubles, 43 RBIs, 14 stolen bases and is tied for the team lead with 11 home runs.
In conference games, Lasko is tied for the Big Ten lead with 27 hits, while ranking fifth with a .415 average.
Sleight's 24 extra-base hits are second to only Lasko and his 11 home runs are tied for the most on the Scarlet Knights.
Brito: Rewriting 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 last week -- an RBI double.
He currently has 41 career home runs, one shy of tying and two shy of breaking Todd Frazier's program-record of 42. Brito also has 181 career RBIs, making him 11 shy of the program record of 192, shared by Pete Zoccolillo and Jake Daubert.
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 45 games for RU, is hitting .308, has 21 extra-base hits and has drawn 24 walks to just 19 strikeouts. He was recently named to the watchlist 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.
In his Friday start against the Wolverines, Coppola threw a career-high 8.0 shutout innings with 12 strikeouts and no walks.
RHP Drew Conover followed that with 7.0 shutout innings on Sunday and then another 7.0 innings in the finale against Northwestern.
LHP Grant Besser made the transition from the bullpen and has given RU multiple outings of at least 5.0 innings.
Gorski: Nails Out of the 'Pen
Junior RHP Ben Gorski is having a breakout season in the bullpen for the Scarlet Knights. Gorski has five saves and leads the team with a 1.80 ERA across 30.0 innings. He has allowed a miniscule .146 batting average against and has only given up one extra-base hit to the 122 batters he has faced.
