Instead of the scheduled 3:05 p.m. start on Tuesday, the Hook C threw the first pitch an hour earlier. While there was no official reasoning, it may have been due to the 3:15 p.m. send-off for the women’s basketball team, as UConn heads to its 14th-straight Final Four appearance. Although it was a close game, the time change didn’t help the Hook C as the Huskies fell short, allowing the Boston College Eagles to sweep in for the 5-3 win.
UConn struck first with a ground ball off Ben Huber’s bat. Erik Stock, already on base, made his way to home plate to give the Huskies the initial lead. UConn held onto it for a slow second inning before BC picked it up to make it a ballgame.
In the third inning, the Eagles answered with a strong double to bring a batter in for a 1-1 tie. They took the lead at the top of the fourth inning with several players on the bases, each advancing one in order to contribute to a run.
Huber, still swinging, hit a home run at the bottom of the fourth to bring the game back to a tie. Sitting at 2-2 about halfway through the game, it was anyone’s victory on the line.
BC made it loud and clear that it wanted the win on Tuesday afternoon, tallying a home run in the next inning to take back the lead, 3-2. The Eagles soared by in the sixth and then at the top of the seventh, hitting a homer with a base runner already on the diamond, increasing the lead by two.
“It was frustrating,” UConn head coach Jim Penders said of BC taking back the lead. “We looked cold.”
Stock, who continues to showcase his talent at the plate, tried again as he did on Saturday to lead the Huskies in a comeback, but fell short once more. He was able to bring Zach Bushling in on a single, but UConn needed a few more guys out on the bases to keep the team in the game.
Penders attributed a lack of offensive moves to Tuesday’s loss, claiming that hitting was a weakness for the Huskies.
“It looked like concentration was lacking to a certain extent,” Penders said. “Our toughness in the box needs to be there, and it wasn’t there enough today.”
The coach also noted that UConn’s starting pitcher against BC, Cole Chudoba, threw well but didn’t get enough help from fellow Huskies. Penders thought, “we could’ve made it a little bit easier on [Chudoba],” by limiting his pitch count further.
UConn’s record is now 17-6 ahead of the next series against Kent State University. All three games of the series will be played in Ohio, starting on Friday night and closing out the weekend on Sunday.
