Rutgers Baseball's 2024 season is off to a terrific start as they swept Winthrop last weekend, but this weekend they will face a tough test as they down south again to face off in a three game series versus Old Dominion.
The Monarchs swept George Washington last weekend, but did end up losing a midweek game to the University of Virginia this past Wednesday.
Here is the series preview ahead of the series between Rutgers and Old Dominion.
TV / STREAM - ESPN+
WHO - Rutgers Scarlet Knights vs. Old Dominion Monarchs
WHERE - Bud Metheny Baseball Stadium (2,500) -- Norfolk, Virginia
WHEN...
-- Friday at 3:00pm ET
-- Saturday at 2:00pm ET
-- Sunday at 1:00pm ET
OLD DOMINION MONARCHS....
Old Dominion is led by Head Coach Chris Finwood, who enters his 13th season in charge of the program with a record of 360-270 over that time.
Starting with the pitching staff, they are led by junior left-handed pitcher John Holobetz. Last year, he appeared in 18 games (1 start) and posted a 2-1 record along with a 3.37 ERA, six saves and 49 strikeouts in 42.2 innings pitched.
The other pitcher to watch would be left-handed pitcher Dylan Brown, who is expected to get start for the Monarchs on Saturday. The Pennsylvania native struggled in his first season last year, but he did pitch really well in his first start last week. In that start, Brown threw 5.0 innings allowing three hits, three runs (two earned), one walk, and eight strikeouts.
In the series finale, the team is expected to send out right-handed pitcher Trent Buchanan, who pitched very well in his first start of the season. The former JUCO transfer threw 4.0 innings, allowing three hits, one run, one walk, and three strikeouts.
Moving on to the ODU offense, they didn’t have a ton of success last weekend, but they did enough to get the series sweep. One area the Monarchs were very successful was base running, where they went 12-for-12 on stolen bases.
Outfielder Kyle Edwards is one of the best-returning hitters from last season. Last weekend he went 4-for-11 with two doubles, three RBIs, and leads the club with four stolen bases. Two other Old Dominion hitters to watch are Maverick Stallings and Steven Meier.
RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS....
The Rutgers pitching staff returns two arms from last year and have included a freshman in their weekend rotation for the 2024 season. Christian Coppola will get the Friday start again this week despite some struggles versus Winthrop.
On Saturday, LHP Justin Sinibaldi will get the start for the Scarlet Knights and he was excellent in his first start of the season. He pitched 7.0 innings allowing four hits, one run, no walks, and two strikeouts.
As for the series finale, Rutgers is once again rocking with freshman RHP Zack Konstantinovsky. He was solid on the mound for his first collegiate start, throwing 4.0 innings, allowing five hits, three runs, no walks, and seven strikeouts.
The Rutgers offense carried the team a bit at times last weekend and were led by budding star Tony Santa Maria, who went 7-for-13 (.538 batting average), with seven hits, one double, three home runs, eight RBIs, five runs scored, and a 1.933 OPS.
Transfer Johnny Volpe also had a big start to the season, batting .444 with four hits, four RBIs, two runs scored, and a team-high four stolen bases. Two other hitters to watch this weekend include Trevor Cohen and Josh Kuroda-Grauer.
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