Baseball Opens Big Ten Play Against Iowa

Friday, March 7

Piscataway, N.J.

2:00 PM

Rutgers University

Iowa

Mar 06 | Baseball

Rutgers Game Notes Iowa Game Notes Rutgers Media Guide

PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball opens up Big Ten play this weekend with a three-game series against Iowa at Bainton Field.

The Scarlet Knights (5-7) won their midweek matchup against Delaware on Tuesday to rebound after being swept last weekend at Coastal Carolina.

The Hawkeyes (5-6) won their home opener on Monday against DIII Loras College and dropped three-of-four last weekend against Washington State in Texas.

All three games this weekend will be streamed on B1G+ with Dom Savino and Steven Cusumano on the call. Fans can also follow along on X (@RutgersBaseball) for live updates. Live stats will be available here.

Date	Time (ET)	Coverage	Rutgers (5-7, 0-0 Big Ten)	Iowa (5-6, 0-0 Big Ten)
Fri. 3/7	2 p.m.	B1G+ \| Live Stats	RHP Justin Shadek	LHP Cade Obermueller
Sat. 3/8	2 p.m.	B1G+ \| Live Stats	RHP Landon Mack	RHP Aaron Savary
Sun. 3/9	11 a.m.	B1G+ \| Live Stats	LHP Preston Prince	RHP Reece Beuter

Series History
Rutgers is 9-16 all-time against Iowa, including a 7-12 mark in Big Ten play. Last season, the Hawkeyes swept the Scarlet Knights in a three-game series in Iowa City.

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.

Early Conference Play

This weekend will mark the earliest conference series Rutgers has ever played in a traditional schedule.
In the COVID-shortened, conference-only 2021 season, RU began the year with a Big Ten game against Indiana on March 5 at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. This weekend will mark the earliest outdoor conference game in program history.

Double Trouble

The Rutgers offense leads the Big Ten and is 10th in the country with 2.75 doubles per game (33 total).
The Rutgers defense is third in the Big Ten with 10 double plays turned this season.

Tough Outs

Rutgers has the fewest strikeouts in the Big Ten with just 66 this season, which is the fourth-fewest among power-4 programs.
JT Thompson (5.8%) and Trevor Cohen (7.0%) are fourth and fifth in the Big Ten in strikeout percentage.

Going Streaking

Peyton Bonds has been on base in all 12 games this season and is riding an eight-game hitting streak heading into the weekend.
JT Thompson has been on base in each of the last 10 games.
JD Jones has been on base in all seven games he has played in this season.

Young Guns

44 of the team's 97.1 innings pitched (45.2%) have come from freshmen. This includes the top two arms in Landon Mack (11.1 IP) and Justin Shadek (10.0 IP).
81.2 of 97.1 (83.9%) innings have come from players who did not pitch for Rutgers last season.
Additionally, RU's leader in home runs (2) and RBIs (15) is freshman Nick Tomasetto.

Nicky Nukes

Nick Tomasetto had a breakout game last week against St. Joe's, going 3-for-4 with two home runs and seven RBIs. He became the first Scarlet Knight to have seven RBIs in a game since Carmen Sclafani against Wagner in 2019.
His 15 RBIs lead the team and his two home runs tie Ty Doucette for the team lead.

Rutgers/Collegiate Debuts