PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball is set for its final home series in Big Ten play this weekend when it hosts Penn State.

The Scarlet Knights (25-24, 12-12) are winners of six straight after sweeping Illinois last weekend and winning their midweek finale over Rider on Wednesday. 

The Nittany Lions (27-19, 13-14) are playing their final conference series of the season and most recently dropped two-of-three at home to Maryland. 

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 41-49 all-time against Penn State, including a 13-13 mark in Big Ten play. The Nittany Lions took two-of-three last season in Happy Valley. The teams last met in New Jersey in 2023, with the Scarlet Knights sweeping the three-game series as Chris Brito set the program record for career home runs.

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 4.04 ERA leads all Big Ten freshmen starters and is 12th in the conference.
• From the Iowa series through the Washington series, Mack posted 17 consecutive scoreless innings. 

Cohen's Consistency

• Trevor Cohen leads the Big Ten with 74 hits overall and 43 hits in conference games. 
• His .453 average in Big Ten games is best in the conference by 64 points, with the next best at .389.
• Cohen collected his 200th hit against Illinois last weekend and owns the Rutgers record with 43 hits and counting in Big Ten play.

Hyde The Sparkplug

• The Rutgers offense has caught it stride recently thanks in part to Brennan Hyde's move to the leadoff spot. 
• In 10 games since moving to the leadoff spot, Hyde has a hit in all 10 games and a run scored in nine.
• In that stretch, Hyde is 15-for-39 (.385) with three home runs, 10 RBIs and 15 runs scored.
• Since Hyde's move to the leadoff spot, Rutgers is 8-2, batting .331 as a team with a .915 OPS and averaging 11.7 hits and 10.3 runs per game.

Young Guns

• 58.8 percent of the team's innings on the mound have come from freshmen. This includes the top two arms in Landon Mack (62.1 IP) and Justin Shadek (49.1 IP).
• Additionally, 90.4 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 277 this season, 41 fewer than the next-closest Big Ten team.
• The 277 strikeouts are also the second fewest among Power Four programs. 
• Trevor Cohen (5.6% - first), Pablo Santos (7.0% - fifth) and JT Thompson (7.2% - sixth) are all top six 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

• Peyton Bonds has a team-best 23-game on-base streak and 12-game hitting streak.
• Trevor Cohen has a hit in 15 straight Big Ten games.
• Cohen and Ty Doucette have both been on base in all 24 Big Ten games.
• Ty Doucette has at least one hit, one RBI and one run scored in eight straight Big Ten games.
• Brennan Hyde owns an 11-game hitting streak.
• Pablo Santos owns a nine-game hitting streak.
• Nolan Peel has six 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