Rutgers baseball downs Wagner in rainy home opener
The Rutgers baseball team defeated Wagner 7-2 in its home opener on Tuesday evening. The Scarlet Knights (9-2, 0-0) recorded 10 hits in the rainy contest against the Seahawks (0-10, 0-0) at Bainton Field on Livingston campus.
Junior right-handed pitcher Jordan Falco started the game on the mound for Rutgers, his first of the season. Falco gave up the game's first run, walking Xavier Baker with the bases loaded. Falco got out of the bases-loaded jam after retiring Zack Kent.
The Knights would get on the board in the bottom of the second. Sophomore catcher and outfielder Hugh Pinkney grounded out to second base but drove in junior infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer to tie the game.
Rutgers would struggle to score runs despite getting graduate student outfielder Pete Durocher, redshirt sophomore infielder Tony Santa Maria and Kuroda-Grauer on base.
Falco pitched four innings, walking three batters and throwing five strikeouts before being replaced by senior right-handed pitcher Ben Gorski.
The Knights took the lead in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore outfielder Trevor Cohen scored on a balk, and the runs did not stop there as Kuroda-Grauer tacked on his second run of the game with a single from freshman catcher Jackson Natili.
The bats would get hot in the bottom of the seventh. Junior outfielder RJ Johnson Jr. scored senior infielder Cameron Love on a fielder's choice. Santa Maria then hit a two-run double to score Johnson Jr. and Durocher.
Wagner responded as Matthew Kenney flew out to left field and drove in Lukas Torres. The Seahawks could not build off the run batted in (RBI) from Kenney.
Junior outfielder Scotty Young capitalized on a Wagner error to give Rutgers a five-run lead.
Redshirt freshman left-handed pitcher Donovan Zsak and graduate student right-handed pitcher Sonny Fauci closed out the win for the Knights.
Santa Maria led Rutgers with two RBIs and a double. Four other Knights had RBIs in the home victory.
Rutgers will look to continue its strong start to the season when it goes back on the road to Greensboro, North Carolina, to take on High Point in a three-game weekend series at First National Bank Field.
For more updates on the Rutgers baseball team, follow @TargumSports on X.
To view more of Matthew Mangam's work, follow @matthewmangam on X.
