The Rutgers Scarlet Knights baseball program started their 2021 season by splitting a weekend series against both Indiana and Minnesota. Although the Scarlet Knights finished the weekend 2-2, there were a lot of positive to take away from the year's first series as some of their veterans played performed well and one of the freshman had a big weekend at the plate including his first home run of his collegiate career. Here are three takeaways from this past weekend for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
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Ace LHP Harry Rutkowski was dominant
Due to the shortened 2020 season, the MLB Draft was cut into only five rounds and the Scarlet Knights were able to keep most of their top players because of it. One of the top returning players was their Friday night ace Harry Rutkowski.
During a regular draft year, Rutkowski would have likely been taken in the first ten rounds of the MLB Draft. Keeping Rutkowski let Rutgers keep their top arm coming off a breakout season.
Rutkowski continued that success in the season opener with a 2-1 win over the Indiana Hoosiers. Rutkowski was dominant and made the Indiana lineup uncomfortable at the plate. In the season opener, Rutkowski pitched six innings allowing three hits, one run, two walks and eight strikeouts.
Rutgers probably doesn’t win that game if it wasn’t for the tremendous performance by their top arm. However, there was another southpaw pitcher that made a huge impact in the game and should continue making an impact for Rutgers this season.
The return of Brian Fitzpatrick
For most of his collegiate career, left-handed pitcher Brian Fitzpatrick has been sidelined due to a major elbow injury. Fitzpatrick needed Tommy John surgery which meant he was going to be unavailable for the 2020 season.
The 6’7” 230 pound southpaw made his return to the diamond and looked great in his first outing. In the home opener, Fitzpatrick threw two innings allowing no hits, runs and walks. He also struck out five out of the six batters he faced.
Fitzpatrick is one of the favorites to be the team’s closer and looked great in his first appearance since 2019. The redshirt-freshman has a power arm that was able to mix his pitches and locate well in the win over Indiana. If he can continue to perform, Rutgers will have a very reliable option in the back of their bullpen.
Preseason B1G Freshman of the Year shows out in first series
Coming out of high school, freshman outfielder Ryan Lasko was considered to be one of the top freshman in the Big 10 Conference. D1 Baseball even named the New Jersey native the Preseason Freshman of the Year in his conference.
Lasko showed why there’s so much hype around him with a very solid start to his collegiate career. While Lasko didn’t record a hit in his first game, Lasko was very good the rest of the weekend.
During the blowout win over Minnesota, Lasko picked up his first collegiate hit which also was his first collegiate home run. Lasko blasted a two-run home run to centerfield to make the game 16-1 Rutgers.
After that home run, Lasko had two more hits including a double that almost went over the centerfield wall. Lasko played in three out of the first four games of the season and is batting .300 with three hits, two walks and a 1.117 OPS. Expect to see a lot of Ryan Lasko during the 2021 season.
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