Rutgers baseball to meet Saint Joseph's, UNC Greensboro this week in combined 4 games
The Rutgers baseball team will host Saint Joseph's for its home opener tomorrow at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights (2-4, 0-0) will get their first taste of playing back home in Piscataway this week before traveling south to Greensboro, North Carolina.
After its time at the Swig & Swine Classic, Rutgers currently has a two-game losing streak, but it will finally have a home-field advantage for the upcoming game. Last season, the program went 19-5 for home games.
The Knights and the Hawks (1-2, 0-0) will meet on Wednesday for an afternoon ballgame. The game was originally scheduled for Tuesday but was rescheduled due to inclement weather.
Saint Joseph's is coming off its first win of the season, which came in an extra-innings showdown against Duke. Before that game, the Blue Devils (5-2, 0-0) outscored the Hawks in runs 18-1 in the first two games of the series combined.
Conlan Wall is a player to watch on Saint Joseph's. Through three games, the outfielder has a .444 batting average and a 1.059 on-base plus slugging (OPS) percentage.
Rutgers has been getting back into the swing of things as the season has started up. The first few games have been riddled with ups and downs as new and returning players settle into a new season together.
The Knights' past three games have all been tight contests, one of which they won in walk-off fashion, courtesy of a run-scoring sacrifice fly by senior infielder Chris Brito. Rutgers must put more runs on the board in its upcoming week of play to avoid outcomes like its recent narrow defeats.
After hosting the Hawks on Wednesday, the Knights will head back on the road to face off against UNC Greensboro. The Spartans (2-5, 0-0) will host Rutgers for a three-game weekend series starting Friday.
The Knights should look out for UNC Greensboro's Zack Budzik and Daniel Cerda. Budzik currently holds a batting average of .400, an OPS of 1.100 and leads the team with eight runs batted in (RBIs). Similarly, Cerda has hit for a .440 batting average and a 1.068 OPS through the Spartans' first seven games of the season.
Rutgers has its work cut out for itself in the upcoming week of games. With a deep roster full of talent, it would not be surprising to see some lineup changes for the Knights throughout the next few games.
Seeing which players can have the most impact before the team's schedule turns to Big Ten play should be one of head coach Steve Owens' most significant priorities.
Rutgers will be on the newly renovated Bainton Field opposite Saint Joseph's tomorrow at 3 p.m. with the game streaming on Big Ten Network+ and 88.7 WRSU-FM. This weekend's series against UNC Greensboro will start on Friday at 4 p.m., with Saturday's first pitch scheduled for 2 p.m. and Sunday's start time set for 1 p.m. All three games against the Spartans will be available on ESPN+.
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