Todd Frazier is a Jersey boy through and through, and he was NOT feeling Jersey’s state college getting left out of the NCAA Baseball Tournament.
Rutgers went 44-15 this year, including 17-7 in the Big Ten, and finished second in the Big 10 regular-season standings and as the runner-up to Michigan in the Conference Tournament – and yet they were not in the field of 64 announced for the Road to Omaha on Sunday.
And with that, Frazier coined a rhyming hashtag:
Frazier also directed a tweet at one of the committee members, Army athletic director Mike Buddie – a name you might remember as a pitcher with the 1998 and 1999 Yankees – questioning how Rutgers, who ranked No. 42 in RPI, was left out but 32-22 Mississippi (just ahead at 39th) was included:
Frazier, who recently retired after 11 MLB seasons and an Olympic Gold Medal in Tokyo, is a Rutgers alum, and has been outspoken about enjoying the Scarlet Knights’ turnaround under third-year skipper Steve Owens.
Rutgers was 6-9 in the COVID-shortened 2020 season and 21-23 last season, but rebounded to set a school record with their 44 wins this season, surpassing the 42 they won under Fred Hill in both 2001 and 2007 – the latter the last time Rutgers won a conference tourney (then in the Big East) and made the NCAA Tournament.
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The turnaround isn’t much of a surprise to those who have followed Owens, however, as he came to Rutgers with a career record of 915-483-3 in 28 seasons with Cortland, LeMoyne, and Bryant and 11 conference Coach of the Year Awards. He also led both Bryant and LeMoyne to three NCAA Tournaments each, and while at D-3 Cortland, he led the Red Dragons to seven NCAA Tournaments and four D-3 College World Series in eight seasons.
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