Rutgers Baseball adds third pitching transfer in NJ native Sonny Fauci

The offseason carousel continues around Rutgers Baseball.

While there is currently seven Scarlet Knight arms in the transfer portal, Rutgers just added its third.

On Tuesday morning, St. John’s transfer and New Jersey native Sonny Fauci announced that he will return home to pay for Rutgers. Fauci took to Twitter to share the news.

Fauci missed most of the 2021 season after undergoing Tommy John surgery. In 2022, he made 11 starts in 14 appearances as a redshirt junior. He finished 3-2 with a 5.13 ERA. Fauci allowed 62 hits in 59.2 innings while striking out 41 and walking 33.

Fauci was named the GMC Player of the Year as a senior after allowing just five earned runs in 67 innings. He was the 26th recruit in the state coming out of high school, according to Perfect Game.

Rutgers now has three new arms for next season. Fauci joins DIII product Jack Eshleman out of Hamilton College. In seven starts, Eshleman went 3-0 with a 1.13 ERA. He struck out 51 batters in 31.2 innings while walking just three.

Joey DeChiaro will also join the Scarlet Knights out of Old Dominion. DeChiaro, who hails from Flemington, will also return to his home state for the 2024 season.