PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball is set to kick off the 2025 campaign this weekend when it visits Kennesaw State for a three-game series in Georgia. The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 28-25 season that saw
Josh Kuroda-Grauer named Big Ten Player of the Year and earn multiple All-America honors.
Head Coach
Steve Owens and his staff were tasked with re-tooling a roster that lost four underclassmen and an incoming signee to the MLB Draft and brought in 27 newcomers to join the 11 returners that make up the 2025 baseball roster.
In addition to the bevy of new players, Owens hired college baseball veteran
Mike McRae as the team's new pitching coach. McRae brings a breadth of experience to Rutgers, having served as the head coach at William & Mary for the previous three seasons and having stints as the pitching coach at VCU and head coach at Canisius and Niagara before that.
Pitchers
Having to replace the bulk of last season's innings on the mound, McRae will turn to an equal part of returners, freshmen and transfers to lead the way. The 2025 pitching staff features plenty of different looks, from power arms to sidearmers and plenty of in between. For the opening weekend, RU will turn to
Justin Shadek,
Landon Mack and
Preston Prince as its starting rotation. A redshirt freshman, Shadek is primed for the first action of his collegiate career after spending 2024 rehabbing an injury. A true freshman, Mack was one of the program's highest-ranked recruits in the class of 2024 at No. 388 nationally by
Perfect Game. The Bishop Eustace product had a strong fall and looks to continue that into the season. A transfer from Niagara, Prince served as a weekend starter for the Purple Eagles last season and has plenty of big-game experience, starting the team's NCAA Regional game against Oklahoma State.
Jordan Falco,
Jack Kirchner and
Zack Konstantinovsky make up the returning right-handed arms, with Falco providing the most experience of the group. Falco has the most experience of any returning pitcher with 42 innings a season ago in various roles. Kirchner is a redshirt freshman who is poised to make his collegiate debut after missing 2024 with an injury. Konstantinovsky made eight weekend starts last season and pitched to a 5.29 ERA in 34 innings before missing the rest of the season due to injury.
Joe Mazza is the lone returning lefty and the most experienced returner based on appearances, with 63 career games, including a team-high 24 a year ago.
The Scarlet Knights added four incoming transfers from the right side with plenty of experience between them.
Quinn Berglin is a DIII All-American who put up a 2.16 ERA for Lawrence last season as the team's ace.
Mike Timberlake transferred in from DIII Montclair State where he pitched to a 2.47 ERA in 10 games (nine starts) across 51 innings.
Dillon Ryan is a graduate transfer from DIII UMass Boston who holds the school's all-time strikeout record with 242 and had 80 strikeouts in 59 innings a season ago.
Zach Gleason made 18 starts in his career at Stonehill and had a 4.61 ERA in 2024 with 30 strikeouts in 27.1 innings.
In addition to Prince, Rutgers also added Bryant transfer
Ryan Bradley as another left-handed reliever. Bradley is coming off a strong summer in the NECBL where he had a 2.03 ERA with 20 strikeouts in 13.1 innings for the North Shore Navigators.
The freshman class features another five right-handed pitchers in addition to Mack.
Jared Carlucci,
Matthew Cruz,
Luke Fithian,
Nolan Peel and
Andrew Rondini all gained valuable experience in fall and winter intrasquads and have a chance to make an immediate impact.
Hunter Hoxie and
Cameron Johnson are the program's two freshman left-handers and will also compete for immediate action. Johnson joins
Ty Doucette as one of two Canadians on the 2025 roster.
A two-way transfer from Rhode Island,
Connor Grotyohann can serve as another right-handed arm out of the bullpen and provide power from the right side of the plate.
Charles Batista is a true freshman and another two-way option for RU, having pitched plenty of innings in the fall and winter ramp up.
Infielders
Ty Doucette is the lone holdover from 2024, but brings back a strong resume to build on. Doucette was fourth on the team with a .321 average as a true freshman and was second with nine home runs and 49 RBIs despite missing 10 games due to injury.
Having lost second baseman
Cameron Love to graduation and shortstop
Josh Kuroda-Grauer and third baseman
Tony Santa Maria to the draft, there are plenty of opportunities for playing time in the infield. However it shapes out, associate head coach
Mike Garza has a track record of developing elite infielders. His last two shortstops (Kuroda-Grauer and Danny DiGeorgio) were both finalists for the Brooks Wallace Award, given annually to the top shortstop in the nation, and also named All-Americans. Chris Brito played both first and third base and is the program record holder for career home runs and RBIs as well as single-season RBIs.
True freshman
Yomar Carreras, a local product out of North Brunswick, New Jersey, has emerged as a prime option to take the reigns at shortstop. Texas native and junior college transfer
JT Thompson can also contribute right away and is an option at second base. Returners
Pablo Santos and
Nick Tomasetto, as well as junior college transfer
Jan Avila, are a versatile trio, with each being able to play any infield position. Tomasetto is coming off a strong summer after redshirting in 2024. Santos spent his first two years as a valuable reserve, playing second, third and shortstop at a high level.
Outfielders
The Scarlet Knights have consistently been one of the top defensive teams in the Big Ten and that extends beyond the infield.
Trevor Cohen returns as the most experienced player on the roster, having started the first 106 games of his career before missing the last three with injury last season. A career .311 hitter and All-Big Ten Freshman honoree in 2023, Cohen will hold down the right field spot in 2025.
Peyton Bonds, local product from Franklin, New Jersey, transferred back home from Campbell in the summer and earned the starting centerfield job in the fall. Bonds has displayed elite athleticism and a big frame at 6-2, 225, allowing him to cover plenty of ground.
Brennan Hyde, an incoming transfer from DIII Nichols, won a DIII gold glove in 2024 while also hitting .401 with nine home runs and 55 RBIs in just 42 games. Returner
RJ Johnson Jr. started 35 games last season before missing the remainder of the year with an injury. Both Hyde and Johnson will factor into the 2025 lineup.
Jack Sweeney and
Evan McCoach are the team's two freshmen outfielders. Sweeney enjoyed a decorated career for nearby Allentown High School while McCoach was one of the top outfielders in Pennsylvania in the class of 2024.
Catchers
Rounding out the 2025 roster is RU's four catchers.
JD Jones in the lone returner, seeing action in 12 games with four starts last season and is a consistent veteran presence for the Scarlet Knight pitchers.
Matt Chatelle joins the program after two seasons at Merrimack. He was named First Team All-NEC last season after hitting .319 with 11 home runs and 46 RBIs.
Mark Gialluisi is a local product from Westfield, New Jersey, and Saint Joseph [Metuchen] who transferred home after redshirting in 2024 at Virginia due to injury.
Caden Christman is the lone freshman catcher, hailing from North Carolina.
