Tag: Tony Santa Maria

Rutgers baseball: Tony Santa Maria proving to be powerful bat for Rutgers

Tony Santa Maria is off to a very strong start for Rutgers baseball.

Through the first few weeks of the college baseball season, Tony Santa Maria has been a key part of Rutgers success. The New Jersey native has been a hits machine and displayed impressive power. With him in the lineup Rutgers offense has been hard to stop.

Through 25 games, Santa Maria has added eight home runs and 37 hits to his resume. He has also shown ability to drive the baseball, with 16 extra-base hits. Regardless of the opponent, he has made an impact whenever he steps into the batters box and posted a .374 batting average.

Welcome back Tony Santa Maria! @RutgersBaseball third baseman takes Andrew Dutkanych deep to left center. Santa Maria missed almost all of the 2023 season with injury. pic.twitter.com/mwfoq6wAPQ

— Brian Recca (@brian_recca) October 21, 2023

During the 2023 campaign, the talented infielder was limited to five games due to injury. However, he showed a preview of what he can do with a .429 batting average in seven at-bats. Now that he is healthy, Rutgers is reaping the benefits of having one of their best bats back in action.

As Rutgers looks to build on their success they will need Santa Maria to continue his red hot start. He has already recorded 13 multi-hit games with over a month left in the regular season. The Iona product also leads the team in home runs, RBI, total bases and on base percentage.

Regardless of what happens over the next few weeks, Santa Maria has provided a reminder of his importance to this Rutgers team.

Rutgers baseball: No Big Ten baseball teams ranked in the latest top 25

There are no Big Ten teams ranked in the top 25 of this week’s baseball polls.

Despite an impressive 15-6 start to the season, Rutgers baseball is still not ranked. In fact, no team in the Big Ten was ranked in the top 25 in the latest rankings.

Earlier this season, Iowa and Indiana were ranked, but that was short-lived as the games piled up. They are now on the outside looking in.

So far this season, Rutgers has played one team currently ranked in North Carolina, ranked No.23. In their series against the Tarheels, Rutgers went 0-2 while being outscored 22-15. Rutgers could not stop Casey Cook, who drove in six runs.

Pablo Santos’ first career hit is a bases-clearing triple!!

He brings home three more and we take an 18-1 lead in the fifth!#TCD pic.twitter.com/WHdQSbu4dS

— Rutgers Baseball (@RutgersBaseball) March 20, 2024

Although that two-game stretch did not go as planned, Rutgers has bounced back quickly. The Scarlet Knights have won five straight games and scored at least eight runs in every game. That stretch includes a 27-run outburst against Delaware on March 16.

As Rutgers looks to earn a top-25 ranking, it will need its offense to stay hot. So far this season, the Scarlet Knights have hit 20 home runs, seven of which belong to Tony Santa Maria. If he continues to be a hitting machine, Rutgers will be hard to stop.

Looking ahead, April will be a big month for Rutgers. They are set to take on both Indiana and Iowa on the road. Those series will be good opportunities for Rutgers to prove themselves.

Rutgers baseball takes on Charleston Southern in a three-game set

After winning two of three games last weekend and a midweek road win, Rutgers gets ready to take on Charleston Southern in a three-game set.

After taking two of three games from Old Dominion last weekend and a midweek road victory against St. Joe’s, Rutgers baseball (6-1) gets ready to take on Charleston Southern (4-4) in a three-game set starting on Friday.

Friday will mark the first time the Scarlet Knights will face off on the diamond against Charleston Southern, with the first pitch scheduled at 5 p.m. In game one, Rutgers will have Christian Coppola on the hill, followed by Justin Sinibaldi and Zack Konstantinovsky in games two and three on Saturday and Sunday.

Last time out, the Scarlet Knights won its second straight road series to start the season, defeating Old Dominion 10-3 on Friday and 7-6 on Saturday to secure last weekend’s series. The Scarlet Knights strung together ten runs on 15 hits at the plate to compliment a stellar performance by Coppola in game one. Coppola recorded nine strikeouts throughout his six innings of work.

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As for their 15-9 victory over St. Joe’s on Tuesday, Rutgers’ offense was led by redshirt sophomore infielder Tony Santa Maria with two home runs, recording a three-hit game.

Rutgers heads into their weekend matchup against Charleston Southern, ranking among the Big Ten and the nation’s best in multiple categories. The Scarlet Knights lead the Big Ten Conference with 7.03 hits allowed per nine innings, 18 stolen bases, 2.57 stolen bases per game, a 2.98 strikeout-to-walk ratio, and a 1.14 WHIP.

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