April 13, 2017
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - After scoring a school-record 28 runs last time out, Rutgers baseball returns to Big Ten play with a three-game series against Purdue starting Friday at Bainton Field. All three contests will broadcast on BTN Plus, with WRSU 88.7-FM scheduled to call the first two encounters.
Following Saturday's game, the Scarlet Knights are set to cap their Vs. Cancer Foundation fundraiser by staging a head-shaving event to raise awareness and dollars for children's cancer research. The program has raised over $16,000 towards the cause since the fall. Click here for more.
SCOUTING RUTGERS
Rutgers missed last weekend's road series at Minnesota due to travel issues, having previously played Maryland at home April 1-2 in conference play. Purdue will mark the 10th Big Ten opponent to visit Bainton Field since RU joined the league, as Michigan and Illinois will round out the list later in the season.
The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 28-run offensive explosion in a Tuesday victory at Lafayette. The bats put up seven runs in the first inning and continued to tack on from there, collecting 24 hits to raise the season team batting average from .256 to .268. Senior Mike Carter led the charge by going 5-for-5 with one of the team's six home runs for the first game of its kind for an RU player since Jaren Matthews in 2008. Senior Tom Marcinczyk and sophomore Nick Matera smashed two long balls apiece, as sophomore Mike Martinez also went deep. Matera totaled a game-high five RBIs.
The 28 runs were the most in program history, which dates back to 1870, and passed the previous school record of 27 set in games in 2004 and 1987. It was also the most by a Big Ten team this season and tied for sixth-highest nationally this year. In addition, the 24-run margin of victory marked the second-most for Rutgers behind a 27-0 rout of Fairleigh Dickinson in 2004.
Carter's performance bumped his Big Ten-leading batting average to .409, ahead of the second-best .376 held by Minnesota's Luke Pettersen and ranks No. 14 in the country. He is also second in the league with a .473 on-base percentage, second with 48 hits, second with 11 doubles and seventh with a .574 slugging percentage. Seeing time at designated hitter, first base and in left field, Carter has reached base in 28-of-29 games this season.
Carter (185) and Marcinczyk (183) are both within striking distance of 200 career hits, as both have scored over 100 times for the Scarlet Knights. Sophomore Jawuan Harris leads the team with seven home runs this season and 15 stolen bases. Overall, RU has 25 home runs in 29 games to top the 19 hit in 55 games last season.
Using the same three starting pitchers as the previous four weekend series, the Scarlet Knights will mix up the rotation against Purdue. Senior Gaby Rosa will take the ball for the series opener, holding 10 career wins. He only allowed one run in a six-inning start versus the Boilermakers in 2015. Sophomore Serafino Brito is slated for Saturday and has permitted just three earned runs over his last 13 innings. The right-hander has not walked a batter in his previous two starts and is third in the league with just 1.33 walks permitted per nine innings. Junior John O'Reilly picked up the win on Tuesday by not allowing an earned run in three innings. He was held to 51 pitches to come back for Sunday. In his last Big Ten start, O'Reilly pitched a career-high 7.1 innings and struck out six versus Maryland.
Out of the bullpen, fifth-year senior Max Herrmann has not allowed a run over his last five outings to lower his ERA to 2.12. The left-hander is tied for fourth in school history with 77 career appearances. Senior Ryan Fleming is coming off a performance striking out 3-of-4 batters faced and paces the staff with 14 games worked this season.
NOTABLE
Rutgers is 38-8 since 2015 when scoring at least six runs in a game and 9-0 this year … the Scarlet Knights have the No. 44 strength of schedule nationally … RU is one of nine Big Ten teams with an RPI of 101 of better … the team is 10-2 when recording more hits than its opponent.
SCOUTING PURDUE
Under the direction of first-year head coach Mark Wasikowski, the Boilermakers are coming off a midweek loss at No. 2 Louisville, but took 2-of-3 at home last weekend versus Indiana. The team also won a Big Ten series over Ohio State. Offensively, Nick Dalesandro leads the lineup at .362/.406/.504, while Jacson McGowan has hit five home runs. Purdue leads the Big Ten and ranks No. 9 nationally with 32 sacrifice bunts. Friday starter Tanner Andrews has 42 strikeouts in 47.0 innings to earn four victories. The staff has a 5.60 ERA overall.
Wasikowski was previously an assistant coach at Oregon. Click here for more on Purdue baseball.
THE SERIES
Rutgers took 2-of-3 in its initial Big Ten series at Purdue in 2015. The Boilermakers won the opener, 9-5, before the Scarlet Knights came back with victories of 4-1 and 5-2 to clinch the set. Milo Freeman went 5-for-6 with three stolen bases on the way to earning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, while Marcinczyk also collected five hits. Rosa permitted just three hits and one run over six innings to win the Sunday game. O'Reilly also had a save in the series.
All-time, RU leads the series, 3-2, also factoring in two previous non-conference meetings played on neutral fields. The Scarlet Knights won 6-5 over the Boilermakers in the Big Ten/Big East Challenge played in Clearwater, Florida, on Feb. 28, 2010. Purdue won the first meeting, 15-9, on March 17, 1999 in Boca Raton, Florida.
UP NEXT
Rutgers will stay home on Tuesday to host Seton Hall in the first game of a home-and-home midweek series. The Scarlet Knights will travel to Iowa next weekend for their first Big Ten road series of the season.
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