PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball opens up the 2025 home slate against Saint Joseph's on Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Bainton Field. The Scarlet Knights (3-4) are coming off dropping 3-of-4 at Grand Canyon, while the Hawks (2-5) most recently dropped 2-of-3 to Mount St. Mary's – a series that was split between both schools' campuses. 

For RU, redshirt freshman Jack Kirchner will get the start and is primed to make his collegiate debut after missing last season recovering from injury. SJU will start true freshman Matt Fitzgibbon. 

After a low-scoring opening series, the Rutgers bats came alive at GCU last weekend with the team hitting .320 for the series and averaging 8.8 runs per game. 

As a team, RU leads the Big Ten and is fourth nationally with 3.29 doubles per game (23 total). The Scarlet Knights also pace the Big Ten with one double play turned per game. Their 76 hits and .303 average are third in the conference, while their .979 fielding percentage ranks fourth. 

Through seven games, Trevor Cohen paces the offense with a .500 average and leads the Big Ten (second nationally) with six doubles. His 15 hits and 2.14 hits per game lead the Big Ten, while his .500 batting average is third. 

Pablo Santos broke out against the Lopes, hitting .467 in the series with four extra-base hits, which included his first career home run. 

In total, five qualified RU hitters are above .300: Cohen (.500), Peyton Bonds (.333), RJ Johnson Jr. (.333), Nick Tomasetto (.316) and JT Thompson (.308),

Tomasetto and Ty Doucette are tied for the team lead with seven RBIs apiece. The Scarlet Knights are a perfect 9-for-9 on stolen base attempts, with Bonds leading the squad with four. 

On the mound, Joe Mazza and Luke Fithian each pitched four scoreless innings out of the bullpen against GCU, both striking out four in their appearances. Quinn Berglin also added two innings with no earned runs allowed and a strikeout. 

Five players made their Rutgers debuts in the series: OF Jack Sweeney, INF Jan Avila, RHP Luke Fithian, LHP Hunter Hoxie and RHP/INF Connor Grotyohann. Sweeney, Fithian and Hoxie all made their collegiate debuts.

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