PISCATAWAY, N.J.. – Rutgers baseball returns home to Bainton Field for a three-game in-conference series with Michigan.
The defending Big Ten Tournament Champion Wolverines are 18-14 overall and have won both of their Big Ten series thus far, taking two-of-three at Illinois and at home versus Nebraska.
Rutgers most recently dropped two-of-three at Maryland, winning the finale 14-8. RU the swept a pair of midweek games against Seton Hall and Marist to make it three wins in a row.
Friday night will mark the first Big Ten home game for Rutgers to be played at night, thanks to Bainton Field's brand-new lighting system.
RHP Christian Coppola will get the ball for Friday night's series opener against LHP Connor O'Halloran. Saturday and Sunday's pitching matchups are to be determined.
All three games of the series will be streamed on B1G+.
Fans can also follow along on Twitter for live updates. Live stats will be available for all three games.
Series History
Michigan holds a 14-8 advantage all-time against Rutgers, including a 13-5 mark in Big Ten play. UM won three of the four games the teams played in 2022.
Team Notes
The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten in a number of key situational stats.
Their 29 doubles plays turned on defense are the best in the conference and the 18th-most in the country. Their 26 sacrifice bunts are best in the Big Ten and 13th nationally, while their 28 sacrifice flies are also the most in the Big Ten and the second-most in the country.
RU's two shutouts on the mound are best in the conference, as are the team's 342 hits on offense.
In the Box
Junior outfielder Evan Sleight continues his torrid streak at the plate for RU, leading the team with a .358 batting average, 1.105 OPS and eight home runs.
True freshman outfielder Trevor Cohen has emerged as a rising star for the Scarlet Knights, ranking second on the team with a .346 batting average and striking out just 12 times in 157 plate appearances, while his 47 hits are the most on the team.
Junior centerfielder Ryan Lasko, who has a penchant for heating up during Big Ten play, has done just that through two weekends in conference play. He belted two home runs last weekend at Maryland and leads RU in Big Ten play with a .444 average, 12 hits, three home runs, eight RBIs and six runs scored.
Junior first baseman Jordan Sweeney continues to improve every season on the Banks. He is hitting a career-best .294 in 33 games (all starts at first base), while ranking second on the team with 28 RBIs.
Junior Cameron Love has emerged as the every day starter at second base and has started each of the last 30 contests for RU. He is third on the team with a .312 batting average and has eight doubles. Love has also been perfect on defense, having committed zero errors in 107 chances at second.
Sophomore Josh Kuroda-Grauer has been a model of consistency in his new role as starting shortstop. JKG has started all 33 games for RU, is hitting .300, has 12 extra-base hits and has drawn 19 walks to just 14 strikeouts.
On the Mound
True freshman RHP Christian Coppola will get the ball on Friday night in game one for RU. He has worked into at least the fifth inning in each of his last five starts. He has not given up more than three earned runs in a game this season.
After exclusively serving as a reliever, junior LHP Grant Besser made his first weekend start last Friday at Maryland. He went a career-high five innings and gave Rutgers a chance to win, allowing just two runs (one earned) and striking out three with no walks.
Junior RHP Ben Gorski is having a breakout season in the bullpen for the Scarlet Knights. Gorski leads the team with a 1.57 ERA across 23.0 innings and has only allowed one extra-base hit to the 92 batters he has faced.
Junior RHP Drew Conover has seen action as both a starter and reliever this season. In his last three outings, all out of the bullpen, Conover has recorded all seven of his outs via strikeout and allowed just one base hit.
