Rutgers Baseball program heads south this weekend, down to South Carolina for their next weekend series as the Scarlet Knights will play three games against three different opponents in the annaul Swig & Swine Classic.
The Scarlet Knights will open up play against George Mason on Friday, then Ball State on Saturday and Boston College on Sunday.
Here is the Swig & Swine Classic preview for Rutgers Baseball ahead of the weekend.
GEORGE MASON...
Rutgers was originally scheduled to play against Canisius in their first game of the Swig & Swine Classic, but they will not longer be able to make it to South Carolina on time so the Scarlet Knights will now play against George Mason.
The Patriots will have their ace left-handed pitcher Ben Shields on the mound against the Scarlet Knights as he makes his first start of the season. So far this year, Shields has pitched five innings allowing two hits, one run, no walks and nine strikeouts.
Some hitters to watch for the Patriots include James Quinn-Irons and South Trimble. Quinn-Irons is a huge freshman that’s currently batting .500 with seven hits, one double, two home runs, and a 1.533 OPS. Trimble is batting .333 with five hits, one double, three stolen bases, and a .844 OPS.
BALL STATE CARDINALS....
In game two of the weekend, Rutgers will take on Ball State in their second game of the Swig & Swine Classic on Saturday. The Cardinals are sporting a 1-3 record after their four-game series against the Charlotte 49ers last weekend.
Ball State will hand it off to senior right-handed pitcher Trennor O’Donnell on the mound against Rutgers. O’Donnell is a 6-foot-7, 240-pounds right-hander out of Texas and in his first start of the year, he threw 4.1 innings allowing two hits, one run, six walks, and four strikeouts.
On offense, the Cardinals got off to a slow start with the exception of graduate student, Ryan Peltier. The Ohio slugger is batting .500 on the season with three home runs, three RBIs, four walks, and a 2.043 OPS.
BOSTON COLLEGE...
Boston College will be the final opponent that Rutgers will face in the Swig & Swine Classic. The Eagles come to South Carolina with a 2-1 record after their three-game weekend series against Pepperdine.
The Eagles and Scarlet Knights have not named their starting pitchers and will likely not announce their starters until after their second games are completed. Sophomore right-hander Sean Hard was their starter for the Eagles last Sunday, but really struggled in his two innings of work.
Junior outfielder Cameron Leary is a bat to watch from the Boston College lineup. During the 2022 season, Leary was one of the top power hitters in the ACC, as he blasted sixteen homers for the Eagles last season. Two other Eagles to watch this weekend would be Vince Cimini and Nick Wang.
RUTGERS BASEBALL....
Rutgers Baseball is looking to rebound their rough first weekend series against the Campbell, where they finished 1-2.
The Scarlet Knights pitching staff has a lot of new faces this seaosn after losing their entire weekend rotation to both graduation and the MLB Draft. Seton Hall transfer Drew Conover will be the Friday starter after a rough first start last week. He will need to improve his command if he wants to continue behind the Friday starter for Rutgers.
On Saturday, the Scarlet Knights will hand the ball to Indiana transfer John Modugno. The 6-foot-6, 215-pounds right-hander didn’t pitch in the Campbell series, so this will be his first appearance for Rutgers.
On Sunday, the Scarlet Knights have not announced who will be on the mound yet, but look for pitchers like Christian Coppola and Jake Marshall to get the nod. Both of them are considered the favorites to get the start against Boston College.
Now moving onto the Rutgers offense, they were off to a slow start last weekend, but one player is definitely standing out and that's freshman outfielder Trevor Cohen. He had an excellent first weekend and was named the Big Ten Freshman of the Week.
At the plate, Cohen went 8-for-11(.727 batting average) with a double, six RBIs, and a 1.485 OPS. Two other Scarlet Knights to watch this weekend are outfielder Ryan Lasko and third baseman Chris Brito.
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