Rutgers baseball lost the first two games of the 2023 season at Campbell this past weekend before salvaging the series with a win on Sunday. After losing 11-5 and 10-0 in the first two games, the Scarlet Knights responded with a 16-3 victory in the series finale.
While it was a quiet opening series for many returning contributors on the team, there were some notable standout performances from several newcomers.
Trevor Cohen
The freshman from Brigantine, New Jersey shined bright in his collegiate debut. On Friday, the starting leftfielder was a perfect 4 of 4 at the plate with a double, two runs scored and an RBI. In the second game on Saturday, he was 1 of 3. On Sunday, Cohen led RU at the plate with 3 hits in 4 at-bats along with 5 RBIs, 2 runs and a stolen base. He finished the weekend for Rutgers batting 8 of 11 for a .727 average along with 4 runs and 6 RBIs. While he had just one extra base hit, his consistency at the plate was the biggest bright spot of the weekend for the Scarlet Knights. On Monday, he was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week!
Grant Besser
The JUCO transfer from Florida SouthWestern State earned the victory on Sunday with four innings of scoreless relief. He was efficient in only throwing 44 pitches while striking out three batters and allowing four hits. Head coach Steve Owens had said last week during his appearance on The Scarlet Faithful podcast that Besser was in line to be the closer for Rutgers this season.
Danny Melnick
The Hamilton, New Jersey native and transfer from Quinnipiac caught the series finale on Sunday and came through in a big way. Batting sixth, he was 3 of 4 at the plate with a double, two singles and a walk along with four runs scored. He was a factor in the win for Rutgers in his only appearance of the series.
Ethan Bowen
The freshman from Medford, New Jersey made his Rutgers debut in the season opener. He came into the game in the bottom of the sixth with a runner on second and no outs. In his collegiate debut, he ended the three run rally that Campbell made before his arrival. Bowen finished with three scoreless innings without allowing a hit, striking out four and walking two.
Next up, Rutgers (1-2) will compete in the Swig & Swine Classic in Charleston, South Carolina. They’ll face Canisius on Friday, February 24, Ball State on Saturday, February 25 and Boston College on Sunday, February 26.
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pj43
February 21, 2023 at 7:26 pm
Nice to see some South Jersey boys stepping up for Rutgers. Seems like this HC is making headway in that area of the state where, in the past, the best of South Jersey headed down to the ACC.