PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball returns home for Big Ten action with the program's first all-time meeting against Washington.

The Scarlet Knights (11-14, 2-4) won their midweek contest against Princeton on Wednesday after dropping two-of-three at No. 9 Oregon over the weekend. They lost tight contests by one and two runs each on Friday and Sunday, while winning Saturday 8-0.

The Huskies (11-15, 4-2) have won their first two Big Ten series, taking two-of-three at Nebraska and most recently winning two-of-three at home over Maryland. In midweek action,  they fell 5-2 against No. 8 Oregon State.

Friday and Sunday's games will be streamed on B1G+. Saturday's game will live air on the Big Ten Network with Chris Vosters (PxP) and Danan Hughes (Analyst) on the call. Fans can also follow along on X (@RutgersBaseball) for live updates. Live stats will be available here.

Series History
This weekend marks the first all-time meeting between Rutgers and Washington.

The 2025 Scarlet Knights  

• The 2025 roster features a total of 38 players, with 11 returners and 27 newcomers.
• Of the 27 newcomers, 13 are true freshmen, 12 are four-year transfers and 2 are junior college transfers.
• Head Coach Steve Owens enters his sixth season at the helm of the program and has accumulated three consecutive winnings season with RU. 
• Mike McRae joins the program as pitching coach after three years as the head coach at William & Mary, where he posted three straight winning seasons and three straight CAA Tournament berths.

Mack's Emergence

• True freshman Landon Mack has emerged as one of the top freshmen arms in the country.
• He was named Big Ten Pitcher and Freshman of the Week after seven shutout innings to lead Rutgers to a win at No. 9 Oregon last week.
• Mack's 2.86 leads all Big Ten freshmen and is sixth in the conference.
• Dating back to the Iowa series, Mack has 13.1 consecutive scoreless innings and against Cal Baptist and Oregon had separate runs of 13 and 18 consecutive batters retired in those games.

Young Guns

• 51.2 percent of the team's innings on the mound have come from freshmen. This includes the top two arms in Landon Mack (28.1 IP) and Justin Shadek (23.2 IP).
• The first-year pitchers have contributed a 4.55 ERA, including top starter Landon Mack (2.85 ERA) and top reliever Luke Fithian (1.74 ERA).
• Last weekend, the Scarlet Knights starter a trio of freshmen in Shadek, Mack and Jack Kircher at No. 9 Oregon, with the trio combining to give up just 3 earned runs in 13.2 innings (1.98 ERA).
• Additionally, 84.8 percent of the team's innings have come from players who had not pitched for Rutgers prior to this season.

Defensive Excellence

• The Rutgers offense leads the Big Ten and is 6th in the country with a .985 fielding percentage. 
• The Scarlet Knights have not committed an error in 13 consecutive games.
• Over the past four seasons, Rutgers is one of just eight programs to have a fielding percentage of .976 or better all four seasons. The other seven are Alabama, Arkansas, Auburn, East Carolina, Oregon, Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech.

Tough Outs

• Rutgers has the fewest strikeouts in the Big Ten with just 146 this season, which is the fourth-fewest among power-4 programs. 
• Trevor Cohen (5.2%) and JT Thompson (6.8%) are first and third in the Big Ten in strikeout percentage
• Cohen is the 11th-toughest player to strike out in the country and his 5.2 K% is fourth-lowest in the power-4.

Rutgers/Collegiate Debuts 

• In total, 25 players have made their Rutgers debuts in 2025
  • INF Jan Avila, RHP/OF Charles Batista, RHP Quinn Berglin, OF Peyton Bonds, INF Yomar Carreras, C Matt Chatelle, RHP Matthew Cruz, RHP Luke Fithian, RHP Zach Gleason, RHP/INF Connor Grotyohann, LHP Hunter Hoxie, OF Brennan Hyde, LHP Cameron Johnson, RHP Tyler Kane, RHP Jack Kirchner, RHP Landon Mack, RHP Nolan Peel, LHP Preston Prince, RHP Andrew Rondini, RHP Dillon Ryan, RHP Justin Shadek, OF Jack Sweeney, INF JT Thompson, RHP Mike Timberlake and INF Nick Tomasetto
• Additionally, 13 freshmen have made their collegiate debuts this season 
  • RHP/OF Charles Batista, INF Yomar Carreras, RHP Matthew Cruz, RHP Luke Fithian, LHP Hunter Hoxie, LHP Cameron Johnson, RHP Jack Kirchner, RHP Landon Mack, RHP Nolan Peel, RHP Andrew Rondini, RHP Justin Shadek, OF Jack Sweeney and INF Nick Tomasetto