HuskerOnline – Baseball Weekend Preview: Rutgers

The Nebraska baseball team (20-7) returns home this weekend to take on Rutgers (14-13) in a three-game series. The Huskers are coming off a 2-1 series win over Michigan State where the final game of the series was won in 12 innings.

Last weekend’s series win continued the streak of series wins to seven. NU made school history with that streak, as they have never won seven straight conference series. The Big Red took the first game of the series 4-0, and the defense dominated. Saturday’s game went to the Spartans in a 4-2 loss where the offense went cold. The final game of the series was 6-6 after nine innings before Nebraska scored three in the 12th inning to win 9-6. The Huskers finished their six-game road trip with a mark of 5-1.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off a huge 2-1 series win over 17th ranked Michigan. RU lost the first game of the series 6-4 after holding an early lead. On Saturday, Rutgers took the second game 4-2 and forced a rubber match. On Sunday, the Scarlet Knights won a tight game 3-2 and won the series. It was Michigan’s first series loss of the year. With NU having also not lost a series yet this season, both teams will not be overlooking each other.

Friday, 4:05 p.m.: LHP Cade Povich (4-1, 3.11 ERA) vs. LHP Harry Rutkowski (2-2, 4.17 ERA)

Saturday, 2:05 p.m.: RHP Chance Hroch (3-1, 5.02 ERA) vs. LHP Ben Wereski (5-2, 2.79 ERA)

Sunday, 11:05 a.m.: RHP Shay Schanaman (4-0, 5.18 ERA) vs. RHP Brent Teller (2-2, 4.00 ERA)

***All three games can be streamed on BTN+ and heard on Husker Sports Network.

Ranked nationally

The Big Red are officially ranked in three national polls. D1Baseball put Nebraska at No. 22, Baseball America has them at No. 24 and Perfect Game put them at No. 19. Perfect Game had the Huskers in the poll since April 12, but the other two polls introduced NU this week. The last time the Big Red were ranked nationally was in 2017 when Baseball America put them in the #25 spot before the NCAA tournament. That season Nebraska was a No. 2 seed in the Corvallis Regional. The Huskers lost their first two games to Yale and Holy Cross that year.

Bullpen Bunz

Jake Bunz, who usually is the fourth starter in four-game series, has been finding his groove out of the bullpen as of late. The Elkhorn native has made 11 appearances where he has a 1.25 ERA with just three runs allowed in over 21.2 innings. All three runs he has allowed came in his start against Iowa. Bunz has not allowed any runs as a reliever in 10.2 innings pitched. He also has 18 strikeouts and just three walks in his relief appearances.

Hallmark is tough to stop

The second batter in the lineup this season, Jaxon Hallmark, has been a nuisance for defenses at the plate and on the bases. The senior is fifth in the conference with a .355 batting average and is tied for second with 39 hits. Hallmark has also stolen 10 bases and is tied for third in the Big Ten in that category as well. The senior finds himself in eighth in the conference for runs scored with 26.

***Rutgers is coming off a 2-1 series win over Michigan and has won their past three road series.

***The Scarlet Knights are 10-7 on the road, while they are just 4-6 at home.

***RU ranks second in the Big Ten with 37 home runs and is 17th nationally averaging 1.37 homers per game.

***Rutgers has allowed a league-low 81 walks, and NU has allowed the second-lowest with 82.