PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball head coach
Steve Owens will go for a historic milestone on Tuesday afternoon, as he looks to secure his 1,000th career win when the Scarlet Knights take on Hofstra at 3 p.m. at Bainton Field. The game will be streamed via B1G+ with Dom Savino and Nick Kosko on the call.
Owens currently boasts a career record of 999-543-3 (.648), with previous head coaching stops at Bryant, Le Moyne and Cortland State. With a win, Owens would become just the ninth active head coach in Division I with 1,000 wins.
Division I Active Wins Leaders
- Danny Hall (Georgia Tech): 1,365
- John Anderson (Minnesota): 1,354
- Keith Guttin (Missouri State): 1,353
- Gary Gilmore (Coastal Carolina): 1,311
- Elliott Avent (NC State): 1,206
- Dave Van Horn (Arkansas): 1,190
- Rich Hill (Hawaii): 1,120
- Paul Kostacopoulos (Navy): 1,019
- Steve Owens (Rutgers): 999
Game Info
Rutgers and Hofstra will face off for the 17th time in history, with the series first taking place in 1959. The Scarlet Knights won last year's contest at Bainton Field by a score of 18-1. The Pride won the previous meeting 6-4 in 2019, with the teams only having played twice since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2015.
In the Box
Evan Sleight continues his torrid streak at the plate for RU, leading the team with a .386 batting average, 1.155 OPS and seven home runs. In his last 17 games, Sleight is batting .508 with a 1.518 OPS, six home runs and 18 RBIs. Fellow outfielder
Ryan Lasko has also caught fire in that stretch, hitting .384 with a 1.136 OPS, five home runs, 18 RBIs and 13 walks to just six strikeouts.
True freshman
Trevor Cohen has emerged as a rising star for the Scarlet Knights, ranking second on the team with a .377 batting average and striking out just 10 times in 128 plate appearances.
On the Mound
Rutgers has enjoyed strong outings from its pitching staff in midweek games, where RU is 6-0 this season.
Justin Sinibaldi has started four of those contests and has a record of 2-0 with a 2.04 ERA, having allowed just four earned runs in 17.2 innings with 18 strikeouts and six walks.
Sam Portnoy (5.1 IP) and
Joe Mazza (5.0 IP) have combined for 10.1 scoreless innings out of the bullpen in midweek games, posting 10 combined strikeouts and allowing just three hits.
As a whole, the pitching staff has posted a 3.83 ERA with 57 strikeouts in 54 innings in midweeks, yielding a .206 batting average against.
