Brooms out: Rutgers baseball sweeps Winthrop to start off 2024 season
The Rutgers baseball team swept Winthrop to kick off the 2024 season. The Scarlet Knights (3-0, 0-0) totaled 33 hits across three games against the Eagles (0-3, 0-0) to leave Rockhill, South Carolina, with a perfect record.
Game 1: Rutgers wins 14-5
In the first game of the season, the bats were hot for Rutgers as it cruised to a nine-run victory on Friday.
It was Winthrop, though, which was able to strike first — and often, as it scored five runs through the first and second innings against the Knights.
Rutgers would answer in the fourth inning to the tune of five runs. Redshirt sophomore infielder Tony Santa Maria would get the Knights on the board with a two-run shot. It was Santa Maria's first hit in almost a year after missing the majority of last season with an injury.
Graduate student infielder Johnny Volpe would later drive home two more runs with a single. Volpe was then brought home after senior infielder Cameron Love singled to center.
Santa Maria would give Rutgers a lead that it would keep for the remainder of the game, as his second home run, a solo shot, gave the Knights a 6-5 advantage in the fifth inning.
In the sixth inning, junior outfielder RJ Johnson Jr. cracked a two-run double to left field to give Rutgers an 8-5 lead.
Love put the Knights into double digits after he homered over the left field wall to put Rutgers up 10-5.
Santa Maria would put the icing on the cake with a bases-clearing double in the top of the ninth to give his team 14 runs. The infielder led his team with six runs batted in (RBI) on the day. Johnson Jr., Volpe and sophomore outfielder Trevor Cohen also contributed with three base knocks each as the Knights totaled 17 hits.
Sophomore right-handed pitcher Christian Coppola earned the victory on the mound as he threw for five innings, allowing five runs (one earned) and striking out four Eagles.
Game 2: Rutgers wins 3-1
Saturday's contest was much quieter in scoring, as a strong pitching performance from senior left-handed pitcher Justin Sinibaldi helped Rutgers clinch the series win over Winthrop.
The Knights got off to an early lead this time after Johnson Jr. scored on a Santa Maria single. A sacrifice fly from junior infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer in the second added another run to the scoreboard for Rutgers.
The game would be quiet in scoring until the Eagles cut the Knights' lead in half. A seventh-inning solo home run from Nate Chronis made the score 2-1.
Rutgers would tack on its third run thanks to another sacrifice fly in the eighth. This led to graduate student left-handed pitcher Joey DeChiaro nailing the door shut in the final inning and recording a save.
Sinibaldi stood tall on the mound, only allowing one run and four hits through seven innings in the victory.
Game 3: Rutgers wins 7-6
In the series finale, the Knights and Winthrop needed extra innings to declare a victor.
Another Santa Maria homer helped kickstart Rutgers as it led 5-0 after the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the frame, though, the Eagles would strike back with three runs of their own.
The Knights would extend their lead to 6-4 courtesy of an RBI single off the bat of Johnson Jr. in the top of the eighth inning. In the bottom of the inning, though, Winthrop evened the score at six apiece, eventually sending the game to extra innings.
Rutgers took advantage of an Eagles error as a Volpe single scored Santa Maria and gave the Knights a 7-6 advantage in the top of the 11th.
This time, redshirt junior right-handed pitcher Gavin Stellpflug earned the save with a clean frame in the bottom of the 11th inning to solidify the Rutgers sweep.
Santa Maria was the star of the series with three home runs, seven hits and eight RBI.
The Knights will look to build off their big start to the season next weekend with a three-game series against Old Dominion in Norfolk, Virginia, at the Bud Metheny Baseball Stadium.
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