The UConn Huskies tied with Bryant University 9-9. The game ended short due to darkness. Huskies Baseball’s next home game at J.O. Christian Field is on 4/25 against Rhode Island. (Eric Wang/The Daily Campus)
The No. 24 Huskies baseball team received national recognition after another series win against a top-25 ranked team. UConn will face off against UMass-Lowell at 3 p.m.
UConn (19-11-1, 5-4 AAC) was supposed to play Tuesday against UMass, but the game was postponed due to rain. Over the last 11 games, the Huskies have an 8-2-1 record. Despite dealing with injuries to their pitching staff, they have been able to score runs and Mason Feole has taken charge as the ace.
Feole held the No. 20 Wichita St. offense at bay. The lefty hurled six innings, allowed only two runs and struck out eight batters.
CJ Dandeneau returned for the Huskies Friday and delivered a scoreless fifth inning. Redshirt junior Avery Santos made his first appearance Sunday for UConn after he missed all of last season with Tommy John surgery.
First baseman Chris Winkel has been scorching hot for the Huskies. The sophomore was named to the AAC Honor Roll after he had seven hits, three doubles and 5 RBI against Wichita St.
“Chris Winkel is really turning a corner,” said UConn head coach Jim Penders in a post to the team’s website. “He looks like a really good college baseball hitter. His swing looks grooved and he looks confident in the batter’s box. He had some really good at-bats.”
UMass-Lowell (15-17) is on a five-game winning streak and have not lost a game at home this season.
Russ Olive has done it all offensively for the River Hawks. He currently has a slash line of .383/.489/.704 to go with eight home runs, nine doubles and 21 RBI. Colby Maiola has also been a terror against opposing pitchers. He is second for the team lead in RBI (27), second in average (.304) and doubles (7). The team has a .246 batting average.
Andrew Ryan has been the team’s best starting pitcher through nine starts. He has a 4.22 ERA and opponents have a .269 batting average against him. Luke Tomczyk has been effective out of the bullpen through 19 innings, as opponents are batting .183 against him this season.
As for the Huskies, catcher Zac Susi continues to lead the team in batting average (.313). Isaac Feldstein has continued to add to his career-high in home runs at UConn (10), to go along with 29 RBI.
Chase Gardner, who left his last start early after being struck in the left elbow with a comebacker, is day-to-day. The big lefty has been an integral part of the team’s success. He owns a 3-1 record and 3.72 ERA through 46 innings pitched.
Penders said that Gardner did not break any bones, but he does expect there to be a bruise. Overall, he was pleased with how his team played last weekend.
“It was a really positive weekend,” Penders said after the Wichita St. series. “That’s what I told the guys was that there were more positives than negatives. I felt like those were the best at-bats we’ve had strung together over the course of the three-game series, all year.”
Michael Logan is a staff writer for The Daily Campus. He can be reached via email at michael.logan@uconn.edu.