Hawk hunters: Rutgers baseball mows down Monmouth in 15-run steamroll
The Rutgers baseball team throttled Monmouth 19-4 on Tuesday at Bainton Field on Livingston campus. The Scarlet Knights (23-13, 3-6) were sparked by 23 total hits on the day with eight of their batters recording at least two hits against the Hawks (9-21, 4-8).
Monmouth took the first lead of the afternoon with a solo shot, but Rutgers would answer in the bottom half of the second inning after senior infielder Cameron Love drove home 2 runs with a single and junior infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer sent a sacrifice fly that plated graduate student infielder Johnny Volpe.
The score remained 3-1 until the bottom of the fifth inning when the Knights exploded for 8 runs.
With no outs in the inning, Kuroda-Grauer sent a triple to right field, scoring 2 runs. Moments later, freshman infielder Ty Doucette flew out to left which gave Kuroda-Grauer a chance to tag up and score Rutgers' 6th run of the game.
The Hawks' fifth-inning suffering would not stop there, as graduate student outfielder Pete Durocher and freshman catcher Jackson Natili connected for back-to-back jacks to give the Knights a commanding 8-1 lead.
After Natili's homer, three straight Rutgers batters got on base, and with all the ducks on the pond, sophomore outfielder Trevor Cohen slapped a single to left to bring home two runners. Right after, Kuroda-Grauer contributed once again with a run-scoring single. After five innings, the Knights led 11-1.
After both teams traded a run in the sixth inning, Rutgers again found success at the dish in the seventh. The Knights scored 4 runs, highlighted by a 3-run shot over the wall in left-center off the bat of redshirt sophomore Tony Santa Maria.
Rutgers' foot remained firmly on the gas pedal. Showing no mercy, the Knights tacked on 3 more runs in the eighth. Despite letting Monmouth cross home two times in the ninth inning, Rutgers secured an eye-popping 15-run victory.
No, you are not living in the "Groundhog Day" movie: Kuroda-Grauer and Santa Maria once again had steaming hot stints at the dish. The junior shortstop collected four hits and four runs batted in (RBI), while the redshirt sophomore third baseman had a trio of base knocks with four RBI to his name.
Love and sophomore catcher and outfielder Hugh Pinkney also stood out. Love thrived at the top of the order for yet another afternoon with 3 runs scored, two hits and two RBI, while Pinkney recorded four hits and two doubles.
Graduate student right-handed pitcher Sonny Fauci earned his fifth win of the season with a scoreless two frames and three strikeouts.
Next up for the Knights will be a date with Iowa on the road this weekend, starting with a 7 p.m. first pitch on Friday, followed by 3 p.m. and 2 p.m. starts for the Saturday and Sunday games, respectively. All three games will be broadcast on Big Ten Plus.
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