PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball returns home from a five-game road swing to face off with Illinois in Big Ten play.

The Scarlet Knights (21-24, 9-12) won two-of-three last weekend at Ohio State and defeated UConn 13-11 on the road in midweek action on Tuesday night. 

The Fighting Illini (26-16, 12-9) took two-of-three against Purdue last weekend and were victorious at Bradley in their lone midweek game on Tuesday. 

All three games this weekend will be streamed on Big Ten Plus. Fans can also follow along on X (@RutgersBaseball) for live updates. Live stats will be available here.

Series History
Rutgers is 6-10 all-time against Illinois including a 6-9 record in Big Ten play. The last meeting between the teams was in 2023, with the Scarlet Knights taking two-of-three in the final series of the regular season, with games one and two at Bainton Field and the series finale at ShoreTown Ballpark in Lakewood.

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 recently named Second Team Freshman All-America by Perfect Game and was earlier names Big Ten Pitcher and Freshman of the Week by the conference.
• Mack's 3.70 ERA leads all Big Ten freshmen and is 11th in the conference.
• From the Iowa series through the Washington series, Mack posted 17 consecutive scoreless innings. 

Young Guns

• 57.8 percent of the team's innings on the mound have come from freshmen. This includes the top two arms in Landon Mack (58.1 IP) and Justin Shadek (45.2 IP).
• Additionally, 89.8 percent of the team's innings have come from players who had not pitched for Rutgers prior to this season.

Tough Outs

• Rutgers has the fewest strikeouts in the Big Ten with just 260 this season, 29 fewer than the next-closest Big Ten team.
• The 260 strikeouts are also the second-fewest among Power Four programs. 
• Trevor Cohen (5.6% - first), JT Thompson (6.8% - fifth) and Pablo Santos (7.6% - seventh) are all top-seven in the Big Ten in strikeout percentage.
• Cohen is the toughest player in the Big Ten and 11th-toughest player to strike out in the country. His 5.6 K% is the lowest in the Power Four.

Active Streaks

• The Rutgers offense has seven straight games with double-digit hits. 
• Peyton Bonds has a team-best 19-game on-base streak and eight-game hitting streak.
• Bonds has a hit and a run in six straight games.
• Trevor Cohen has a hit in 12 straight Big Ten games and five straight multi-hit games in conference play.  
• Cohen and Ty Doucette have both been on base in all 21 Big Ten games.
• Brennan Hyde has a hit and a run scored in seven straight games, including all six since moving to the leadoff spot in the lineup.
• After not having more htan six strikeouts in his five eight starter, Landon Mack has struck out at least seven in his last three starts.
• Nolan Peel has five straight relief outings of at least two innings and giving up one or fewer runs.

Rutgers/Collegiate Debuts 

• In total, 27 players have made their Rutgers debuts in 2025
  • INF Jan Avila, RHP/OF Charles Batista, RHP Quinn Berglin, OF Peyton Bonds, LHP Ryan Bradley, INF Yomar Carreras, C Matt Chatelle, RHP Matthew Cruz, RHP Luke Fithian, C Mark Gialluisi, 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, 14 freshmen have made their collegiate debuts this season 
  • RHP/OF Charles Batista, INF Yomar Carreras, RHP Matthew Cruz, RHP Luke Fithian, C Mark Gialluisi, 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