By Cassady Palmer • @crpalmer0627 • May 15
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights (20-28 overall, 9-11 in B1G, 6-17 away) come to the Indiana Hoosiers (33-18, 14-7 in B1G, 18-4 at home) for a series that could determine not only who sits atop the conference at the end of the regular season but also which teams sneak into the backend of the Big Ten Tournament. 2 of the 3 games are televised on BTN.
The Hoosiers will wrap up the regular season by playing host to the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers. While Indiana has already locked up a spot in the Big Ten Tournament, they are currently just 1.5 games behind Michigan for the conference regular season championships and definitely have something to play for.
Pitchers to Expect
- Thursday – SO LHP Harry Rutkowski – 2-5, 3.55 ERA, 74 Ks in 76 IP.
- Friday – JR LHP Tevin Murray – 4-4, 2.31 ERA, 78 Ks in 66.1 IP. 0.61 ERA in 44 IP in Big Ten play.
- Saturday – JR RHP Tommy Genuario – 3-4, 2.58 ERA in 59.1 IP.
- Closer – SR RHP Serafino Brito – 3-1, 8 saves, 4.37 ERA, 43 Ks in 45.1 IP.
- Team – 4.28 ERA, .265 BAA, and average 7.4 Ks per game.
Pitching is the strength of this Rutgers team, and while the offense is not particularly imposing, there are a few bats who the Hoosiers should be a little more careful with.
Bats to Watch
- RS-FR 1B Tim Dezzi – .292 BA, .381 OBP.
- SR 3B Carmen Sclafani – .227 BA, 7 HRs, 49 Ks, .310 BA in Big Ten play.
- SO LF Mike Nyisztor – .286 BA, leads team with 15 stolen bases in 16 attempts.
- Team – .238 BA, none hitting over .300, 15 HRs, averages 8 Ks per game.
Rutgers comes in ranked 179th in the RPI with the 125th best strength of schedule. They are 1-14 against teams in quadrant 1 or 2. The Scarlet Knights do have a few highlights in Big Ten play, where they swept a struggling Michigan State and took 2 out of 3 from Purdue. The team currently sits six games back of Michigan in the conference and are clinging onto the 8th spot in the Big Ten, which is the final team to get into the Big Ten Tournament. Ohio St. and Maryland are just a half game back of the Scarlet Knights, so Rutgers will be fighting for their postseason life.
- Thursday 6:05pm ET – BTN Plus
- Friday 6:05pm ET – BTN
- Saturday 12:05 ET – BTN
Audio
Indiana University will be providing an audio play by play link via Hoosier Country 105.1for all three games.
Team Rosters / Team Stats
Indiana
Michigan
