Rutgers baseball Johnny Volpe reached a career milestone

Rutgers baseball Johnny Volpe reached a career milestone this weekend.

On Friday, Rutgers baseball Johnny Volpe reached 200 career hits in a losing effort against Penn State. The Scarlet Knights’ left fielder singled to right field in the fifth inning to capture his 200th career hit.

In 43 games this season, Volpe registered 46 hits and 31 RBIs in 151 at-bats for the Scarlet Knights. He produced four home runs and six doubles, striking out 24 times while logging a .305 batting average.

Before joining the Scarlet Knights, Volpe was selected to the MAAC All-Tournament Team while playing at Rider University. He help guide the Broncs to the MAAC Championship, appearing in the NCAA Conway Regional. In his last season with Rider, Volpe logged a .298 batting average, producing a team-high 70 hits, 12 doubles, two home runs, two triples, and 34 RBIs.

While playing for Rider, Volpe logged 155 hits and 75 RBIs in four seasons with the Broncs. As a sophomore, Volpe ranked second on the team with 18 multi-hit games, and fourth in the MAAC. Also, he ranked No. 68 in the country with four triples.

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Volpe finished ninth in the MAAC with 32 walks during his sophomore season. He finished the season with zero errors, playing shortstop, second base, and centerfield, totaling 192 putouts and assists. Also, Volpe led the NCAA with a 1.000 fielding percentage.

 

Rutgers baseball starts the season with a sweep over Winthrop

On Sunday, Rutgers baseball (3-0) closed out a three-game sweep with a 7-6 victory against Winthrop (0-3) to start the 2024 season. 

On Sunday, Rutgers baseball (3-0) closed out a three-game sweep with a 7-6 extra-inning victory against Winthrop (0-3) to start the 2024 season.

The Scarlet Knights kicked off their season on Friday with a 14-5 victory in Rock Hill, South Carolina, to capture their first victory of the season. Rutgers carried that momentum into Saturday with a 3-1 win over the Eagles.

Sunday’s matchup wasn’t an easy one for the Scarlet Knights as they saw a 6-4 lead erased in the eighth inning but were able to push across a run and keep the Eagles off the scoreboard in the final three frames.

The Scarlet Knights jumped out to a 5-0 lead in the fourth inning, but the Eagles climbed back with three runs in the bottom of the frame. Winthrop would tie the back in the bottom of the eighth inning, but Rutgers continued to rely on its bullpen depth to carry them. Rutgers grabbed the lead in the 11th inning with an RBI single by Johnny Volpe.

Making his Rutgers debut after not pitching in 2023, Rutgers called upon closer Gavin Stellpflug to lock down the victory. Stellpflug worked around a one-out error and got a strikeout and groundout to earn the save and finish off the sweep.

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Volpe and Rutgers infielder Josh Kuroda-Grauer carried the bats for the Scarlet Knights, combining for eight RBIs and seven hits throughout the series.

Rutgers baseball returns to action against Old Dominion with a three-game series starting on Friday in Norfolk, Virginia.

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