Rutgers Series Preview, Pitching Rotation, Key Stats And Players To Watch

Nebraska baseball is back on the road this weekend for a three-game series in New Jersey.

The No. 23 Huskers (22-8, 5-1 Big Ten) remain ranked in college baseball’s Top 25 national polls, but that billing is on the fritz right now after their last two games.

Will Bolt’s club is on the mend and looking to bounce back this weekend against the Scarlet Knights (20-12, 1-5) after allowing 22 combined runs in losses at home to Ohio State, 9-3 in Sunday’s series finale, and on the road at Kansas, 13-11 in a midweek game Tuesday night.

Rutgers has been floundering of late. The Knights got out to starts of 10-2 before a four-game losing skid, 17-6 following a seven-game win streak and then 19-7 before their most recent struggled. They are coming off an 8-1 win over Seton Hall on Tuesday (the 17-15 Pirates own a similar record to the 16-14 Kansas team that just beat Nebraska on the same night) but previously had lost five in a row heading into that game.

Clearly, there have been some ups and downs this season for Greg Schiano’s favorite college baseball team. Nebraska will be hoping this weekend will be one of the latter periods and that it can get itself back in the win column to bounce back from its first losing streak in two months. The Huskers had not lost two in a row since losing to Texas Tech on Feb. 17 and Oklahoma on Feb. 18.

Below is a preview of what’s on tap for Nebraska and Rutgers with the starting pitching matchups, the most important stats to know, key players to watch during the series and more.

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WHEN: Friday-Sunday (April 12-14)

WHERE: Bainton Field (Piscataway, N.J.)

WATCH: All three games will be available to stream live on B1G+ while Game 3 will also be available to watch on Big Ten Network with Connor Onion (play by play) and Danan Hughes (color) on the call.

LISTEN: Huskers Radio Network with Dave Gustaf (play by play) and Ben McLaughlin (color) on the call for the full weekend.

>> Every game this season can be heard for free on Huskers.com and the Official Nebraska Huskers App for both iOS and android devices.

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Friday, April 12 – 5 p.m.*

RHP Brett Sears (6-0, 1.14 ERA) vs. LHP Justin Sinibaldi (4-0, 2.68 ERA)

Saturday, April 13 – 2 p.m.

RHP Mason McConnaughey (3-2, 2.86 ERA) vs. RHP Jake Marshall (1-1, 4.97 ERA)

Sunday, April 14 – 11 a.m.

RHP Drew Christo (1-2, 4.84 ERA) vs. RHP Christian Coppola (4-3, 6.38 ERA)

*All times Central

NOTES:

>> Sears, a fifth-year junior, is set to toe the rubber on Friday night. Sears is 6-0 in eight starts, posting a 1.14 ERA and 57 strikeouts in 55.1 innings, while holding opponents to a .128 hitting clip.

>> McConnaughey, a sophomore, takes the mound on Saturday afternoon for his fourth start of the season. McConnaughey is 3-2 on the season with a 2.86 ERA and 36 strikeouts in 28.1 innings.

>> Christo, a junior, gets the nod for his eighth start in the weekend rotation on Sunday afternoon. The Elkhorn, Neb., native is 1-2 on the year with a 4.84 ERA and 27 strikeouts in 35.1 innings.

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>> Through 21 all-time meetings, the Huskers hold a 12-9 advantage over the Scarlet Knights in the all-time series.

>> The two teams last met in the 2023 Big Ten Tournament, where the Big Red came away with a 9-7 win in Omaha.

>> This weekend’s trip to Piscataway is the first for the Huskers since Nebraska went 3-1 against Indiana and Rutgers at Bainton Field. The Big Red split with the Hoosiers while winning both games over the Scarlet Knights.

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>> The Huskers appeared in D1Baseball’s Top 25 for the second consecutive week, coming in at No. 23 after ranking 24th last week.

>> Nebraska also earned recognition in the national rankings by Baseball America (No. 21), USA Today/Coaches (No. 21), NCBWA (No. 20) and Perfect Game (No. 25).

>> The Huskers’ last appearance in the national rankings was in the preseason polls in 2022, where the Big Red found themselves ranked in the Baseball America (No. 20), Perfect Game (No. 22) and NCBWA (No. 25) preseason rankings.

All game notes courtesy of Nebraska Athletics

Sears in nation’s elite tier of pitchers, eighth Husker pitcher to start 6-0 in last 25 years

>> Sears leads the nation in WHIP (0.60) and hits allowed/9 inn. (3.90), allowing just six of his 24 hits to go for extra bases, while ranking among the national leaders in ERA (1.14, 4th) and victories (6, T-7th).

>> Nebraska is 8-0 this season in games that Sears has started, outscoring opponents 71-12 in those outings.

>> In eight starts, Sears is 6-0 with a 1.14 ERA and is one of two starting pitchers in DI this season with 45-plus innings pitched, 55-plus strikeouts and seven earned runs or fewer.

>> He is the eighth Nebraska pitcher since 1999 to start the season with a 6-0 record.

>> Sears is the first Husker to start 6-0 since 2015, while Joba Chamberlain reached 8-0 in 2005 and Tony Watson recorded a 7-0 start in the 2006 campaign.

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Sears has program’s best quality start streak in 22 seasons

>> The Westphalia, Iowa, native tossed a complete-game shutout last weekend against Ohio State, notching his seventh consecutive quality start for the Huskers.

>> The seven straight quality starts are the most by a Nebraska hurler since Aaron Marsden recorded seven straight in 2002.

>> The right-hander has punched out 57 batters with only nine walks, posting a 6.33 strikeout-to-walk ratio over that span, which ranks second in the conference.

>> Sears has allowed four-or-fewer hits in seven of his eight outings, as opponents are hitting just .127 (24-for-189) against the senior.

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Huskers off to strong start in Big Ten play

>> With a road sweep at Northwestern and series win vs. Ohio State last weekend, Nebraska is off to a 5-1 start in conference play for the fourth time since joining the Big Ten in 2012.

>> The Huskers previously won five of their first six conference games in the 2021, 2016 and 2013 seasons.

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Freshman Sanderson leads all hitters:

>> True freshman infielder Case Sanderson, a 2023 signee out of Nevada (Mo.) High School, was ranked as the No. 2 first baseman and No. 23 overall prospect in the state of Missouri by Prep Baseball Report. He has hit the ground running in Lincoln, leading all Husker hitters in both batting average (.375) and on-base percentage (.537) across 48-at bats in 22 games played (13 starts).

>> Sanderson is third among all Nebraska position players in slugging percentage (.479) behind catcher Josh Caron (.549 in 113 at-bats) and infielder Tyler Stone (.500 in 90 at-bats).

>> The freshman is also third on the team in walks (14) behind Stone (16) and outfielder Cole Evans (15), second by a sliver in strikeout-to-walk ratio (1.07 with 15 Ks to 14 BBs) behind Riley Silva (1.06 with 16 Ks and 15 BBs) and is tied with three teammates for the third-most times being hit by a pitch (4) behind Silva (16) and Evans (7).

>> Sanderson has totaled 18 hits, 11 RBI, 10 runs with one home run and one triple.

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You’ve heard of track speed, well how about “Silva Speed?”

>> Riley Silva has posted a .435 on-base percentage for Nebraska this season and is the only Husker to score 25-plus runs (30) through the team’s first 30 games.

>> The Cambridge, Ontario, native has started 29 of the 30 games this season and has posted a 1.000 fielding percentage (75-for-75) in center field for the Huskers.

>> Silva is one of 10 DI players to steal 19-plus bases and be caught two-or-fewer times, including the only Power Five player this season.