Rutgers baseball looks to build off recent winning seasons with victorious 2024 campaign
The Rutgers baseball team has recently stoked excitement ahead of its 2024 season. In 2022, the Scarlet Knights, with an overall record of 44-15 and a conference record of 17-7, advanced to the Big Ten Championship Game but ultimately fell to Michigan.
The 2023 season was not as good for Rutgers, but its 33-23 record, along with its 14 conference wins, were nothing to scoff at, bullpen issues aside.
Now, the Knights will look for their third consecutive winning season. It will be tough, though, with players like Ryan Lasko, Chris Brito, Evan Sleight and Drew Conover parting ways with the team. But new talent and old talent should fill in those gaps.
Junior infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer, sophomore right-handed pitcher Christian Coppola and redshirt sophomore infielder Tony Santa Maria were all named Big Ten Players to Watch ahead of the new season.
Kuroda-Grauer enters the year as the No. 11 shortstop in the country, per D1 Baseball's Top 50 Shortstop Rankings. Last season, Kuroda-Grauer hit for a .298 batting average, had a .880 on-base plus slugging percentage (OPS) and was a big source of runs and stolen bases for Rutgers.
Kuroda-Grauer wants to build up his weight and strength heading into his junior season.
"I feel like, coming in as a freshman, I was probably a buck-75, and then you get in there seeing guys three years older than you — they're lifting so much more weight than you," Kuroda-Grauer said. "So, I feel like, gradually, from my freshman year to my sophomore year to now, that's something that's kind of been more important to me."
Santa Maria missed most of last season due to an injury but showcased his talent in 2022 when he hit for a .303 batting average, 10 home runs and 69 runs batted in (RBI).
Returning hitters like sophomore outfielder Trevor Cohen, as well as senior infielders Jordan Sweeney and Cameron Love, should pair nicely with Kuroda-Grauer and Santa Maria.
Coppola hopes to build off an impressive freshman campaign, where he posted a conference-best 3.68 earned run average (ERA). The right-handed pitcher from Galloway threw for 71 strikeouts in 66 innings and was named to the 2023 All-Big Ten Freshman Team and 2023 All-Big Ten First Team among other accolades last season.
Graduate student right-handed pitcher Jake Marshall and senior left-handed pitcher Justin Sinibaldi are likely to follow Coppola in the starting rotation. Graduate student right-handed pitcher Sonny Fauci could see time as a starting pitcher as well after starting 11 of 14 games last season for St. John's.
This medley of returning players will look to help guide their newest teammates, including graduate student outfielders Pete Ciuffreda and Pete Durocher, who transferred from Lafayette and Manhattan, respectively.
Ciuffreda comes to the Knights with First Team All-Patriot League honors after setting the Leopards' single-season home run record with 13 long balls last year. Durocher led the Jaspers with a .335 batting average and a .915 OPS and is shaping up to be a contact-hitting threat for Rutgers.
Graduate student infielder Johnny Volpe also hopes to make a difference for the Knights after transferring from Rider. He led the Broncs with 70 hits in 2023.
While the losses of Lasko and Brito will be evident, Rutgers' work in the transfer portal should help it fill out the roster.
Led by head coach Steve Owens in his fifth year as the Knights' bench boss, Rutgers has high expectations ahead of the new season. The Knights will start the year with a three-game weekend road series against Winthrop beginning on Friday.
"The fall season — it was grueling at some times. It was a lot of long days at the field, really getting after it in the weight room," Kuroda-Grauer said. "Ever since we came back in January (we've been) getting ready … We're just really excited in getting after it."
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