Rutgers Baseball had another rough weekend, as the Scarlet Knights dropped two out of three against the Purdue Boilermakers, who currently have one of the worst conference records in the Big Ten Conference this season.
The Scarlet Knights offensive struggles continue to show through the first two games, resulting In losses and the team still needs to figure out who their third starter is in the weekend rotation.
With that being said, here are my three takeaways from the series.
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RUTGERS OFFENSE STRUGGLES TO PRODUCE EARLY....
The Rutgers offense had a poor showing in the two losses versus Purdue, dropping the first game 2-1 in a pitcher’s duel and didn’t score their lone run until the ninth inning of that game.
In the series opener, the Scarlet Knights didn’t have issues getting runners on base, as they recorded ten hits and earned six more free passes. However, the team couldn’t hit with runners on base, standing seven runners in the first four innings of play.
In the second game of the series, the offense took too long to get going. Rutgers was trailing 5-0 for the majority of the game, before they scored three runs to bring the game back within reach. However it wasn’t enough to even the series and force a Sunday rubber match, as they went on to lose 10-5.
RUTGERS NEEDS TO FIND CONSISTENCY IN THIRD STARTER....
The weekend rotation had a good showing this weekend, once again led by a group of freshmen in right-handers Landon Mack and Justin Shadek. The duo has been pitching better and have become pretty consistent for the Scarlet Knights this season. However, the team is still struggling to find that number three starter to complete their weekend rotation.
Landon Mack continues to impress, recently being named a Mid-Season Freshman All-American. He also made his first start as the Scarlet Knights ace pitcher recently and was excellent. He pitched seven innings, allowing four hits, two runs (one earned), no walks, and seven strikeouts.
Redshirt freshman Justin Shadek lost his Friday night starter role, but pitched for the Scarlet Knights in the series finale this weekend. He threw very well and helped Rutgers avoid getting swept by Purdue, going five innings allowing two hits, one run, three walks, and seven strikeouts. He also earned the first win of his collegiate career this weekend.
While Mack and Shadek threw well, Quinn Berglin made his first start for the program and got roughed up pretty good. He threw 2.2 innings, allowing seven hits, five runs, four walks, and three runs. If Berglin isn’t the guy, then the Scarlet Knights need to continue to try more arms until they find someone who is.
WHAT'S NEXT FOR RUTGERS?
After a disappointing series, Rutgers has four games on their schedule this week, which includes a midweek road game versus Monmouth on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights will then return home for a three-game weekend series versus Minnesota.
Rutgers needs to continue hitting the ball as well as they did in their series finale this past weekend versus Purdue and if they can do that they become a tough team to pitch with their pitchers showing improvements.
Minnesota has struggled this season, especially in Big Ten Conference play. On the season, the Golden Gophers have a 16-17 record and are 5-10 in the Big Ten. However Minnesota has had some success away from their home ballpark with a 7-5 road record.
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