PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers baseball picked up a dominant 19-4 victory over Monmouth on Tuesday afternoon at Bainton Field. 

The Scarlet Knights (23-13) took a 3-1 lead in the second and scored eight more in fifth to defeat the Hawks (9-21).

While Monmouth was able to get ahead early with a solo home run in the top of the first, Rutgers scored three in the second to take control of the game. 

The bottom of the RU order loaded the bases on three straight singles. Cameron Love then drove in a pair with a single into left and Josh Kuroda-Grauer added another with a sac fly to center. 

Rutgers starter Jordan Falco bounced back after the early run and threw scoreless second and third innings. 

Sonny Fauci would pitch two scoreless innings, giving up just one hit and striking out three with one walk to earn the win. 

The Scarlet Knights exploded for eight runs in the fifth thanks to six extra-base hits. After Love and Trevor Cohen reached to start the frame, Kuroda-Grauer tripled into the right field corner to score them both. Pete Duroher and Jackson Natili followed with back-to-back solo home runs, which pushed the score to 8-1. Cohen singled in two more with the bases loaded later in the inning and Kuroda-Grauer added on one more with a single that made it 11-1. 

After the teams traded runs in the sixth, Rutgers scored another four in the seventh and three in the eighth to jump out to a 19-2 advantage. 

In the seventh, Ty Doucette singled into left to score one and then Tony Santa Maria launched a three-run home run to add three more, his 10th of the season which leads the team. 

An RBI single from Santa Maria in the eighth and a pair of RBI doubles from Jordan Sweeney and Hugh Pinkney made it 19-2. 

While the Hawks added a pair in the ninth, Justin Sweeney finished off the victory on the mound for RU. 

Kuroda-Grauer went 4-for-5 with four RBIs on the day, recording his fifth straight game with at least three hits and raising his batting average to .455.

Hugh Pinkney went 4-for-6 with two doubles, setting a career high with his four hits. 

Santa Maria also added three hits, picking up four RBIs and scoring three times. 

Rutgers returns to action for a three-game road series against Iowa, with game one set for 7 p.m. on Friday night. 

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