Senior Andrew Zapata throws a pitch in a game against Yale on March 8, 2016. The Huskies defeated Fairfield 6-1 on Wednesday afternoon. (File Photo/The Daily Campus)
With five solid innings, Ronnie Rossomando led UConn (13-9) past Fairfield (7-12) on Wednesday 6-1.
“All four pitchers did a nice job and Ronnie was good. That is what we expect from him. He looks a little more comfortable in a starting role,” head coach Jim Penders said. “He looked good, I thought he had good rhythm to him.”
Rossomando got his third win of the season for the Huskies after giving up three hits, one run and striking out five batters on Wednesday.
After weather conditions canceled the Huskies home opener against Boston College on Tuesday, they bounced back to take on their in state rivals at the recently renovated Alumni Diamond.
Freshman Conor Moriarty and Anthony Prato had big days for the Huskies at the plate. Moriarty went 3-for-4 on the day, including a double and three RBI, while Prato went 2-for-4 with a double and one RBI.
“You live and die by the freshman. We’ve got a couple of them getting thrown out on the basepaths, they both surprise me,” Penders said.
In the seventh inning, with the score at 3-1, Fairfield had a golden opportunity to get back in the game with the bases loaded and one out, Sam Nepiarsky came into the game for UConn and got a fielder’s choice grounder and fly out to left, stranding all three base runners.
UConn sealed the game shortly after in the eighth inning with three runs, extending their lead to five and putting the Stags out of reach.
“Some things we have to clean up, but I think it’s a matter of burn and experience… Experience is getting yourself burn and learning from it. So hopefully they have learned from those mistakes today and won’t make them again the next time those situations are around,” Penders said.
The Huskies head to Greenville, South Carolina this weekend to take on conference foes East Carolina.
“We’ve got some things we got to clean up and we got to clean them up quickly because East Carolina is a really good team, but I am happy overall,” Penders said.
Antonio Salazar is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at antonio.salazar@uconn.edu.