Rutgers Baseball had another successful weekend of baseball as they went to Virginia and left with three more wins to their record. The Scarlet Knights participated in the Central Virginia Classic and went 3-0 on the weekend, defeating Richmond, VCU and William & Mary.
Now with that being said, here are three takeaways from Rutgers baseball at the Central Virginia Classic.
BEST START SINCE 1962.....
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights led by head coach, Steven Owens, are having a historic start to their season. Rutgers is currently 9-1 which is their best start to a season since the 1962 season.
Rutgers had won in many different ways this season and seem to be a very complete team. They had a veteran offense that has produced some of the best numbers in the country. They also have a pitching staff that has exceeded expectations especially after losing all three of their weekend starters last season.
The Scarlet Knights have been played excellent and they are starting to get some national attention. D1 Baseball’s Kendall Rodgers tweeted that teams around the corner are impressed and keep an eye on Rutgers. They also received 24 votes to be USA Today’s Top 25 Coaches Poll.
HOME RUNS ON THE RISE.....
Going into this past week, Rutgers only had two home runs on the season and were the second lowest in the Big Ten. However, that has quickly changed after Rutgers homered seven times this past week and are second in the Big Ten in slugging percentage.
Both transfers, Tony Santa Maria and Nick Cimillo, lead the club in homers with two. Cimillo is also the Rutgers hits leader as he leads the club with a .500 batting average and tied for first with 14 hits.
Other power bats like Ryan Lasko and Chris Brito have finally a home run to their stat line but other hitters like Jordan Sweeney, Josh Kuroda-Grauer and Danny DiGeorgio all homered this past week.
FRESHMAN JOSH KURODA-GRAUER MAKING AN IMPACT
As the Rutgers offense continues on its tear, one freshman has stood out and receiving lots of early playing time. That freshman is infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer. The New Jersey native has played in eight games and started in six of them.
On the season, Kuroda-Grauer is slashing .346/.393/.500 with nine hits, one double, one home run, nine RBIs and a .893 OPS. Kuroda-Grauer got an early opportunity to start as Danny DiGeorgio missed the first two games of the season with a minor injury.
During that time, Kuroda-Grauer made himself into a player that Coach Owens is going have to find a way to keep him in their lineup. In his last game, Kuroda-Grauer had two hits with base loaded that drove in four of the eight runs Rutgers scored against VCU on Sunday. Josh Kuroda-Grauer making a name for himself, earning playing time and producing at the plate in a veteran lineup.
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