Baseball: Huskies dismantle Boston College, but fall to Northeastern

It felt like two days of night and day for UConn Baseball. The program would have two tough challenges with each game ramping up in difficulty from Tuesday to Wednesday. Those foes would be Northeastern and Boston College with the latter foe giving this Huskies roster a chip on their shoulder. The Eagles had given the Hook C a tough 6-3 loss at Elliot Ballpark, a defeat that would end a Huskies six game winning streak. Sure, UConn would rebound in a big way the next few games, but the team would certainly not forget that defeat at home and they’d have the chance to get revenge in a Wednesday night matchup on the road at UMass. 

But, first, they’d have to get through Northeastern and from the jump, the Hook C did not bring their A-game. Right from the start, the opposing Huskies pounded UConn’s arms for runs and before the bottom of the fifth, they had nine runs on the board, along with 15 hits, and Connecticut would answer with just three runs. Long story short, the combination of Thomas Ellisen, Devin Kirby and Joe Carrea would combine to give up those 12 runs with one of those coming unearned. 

It didn’t help that the bats were stalled by some quality Huskies pitching. Other than a three-hit day from freshman Ryan Daniels and a two-RBI performance from Matt Garbowski, no UConn hitter showed up in a big way and that would ultimately add to the woes of a poor performance. 

To make matters worse, this would all occur at Elliot Ballpark. To take a loss this bad was truly shocking for a Hook C team that looked dominant in the friendly confines of Storrs. All you need to do is look at the 9-1 record before they took on Northeastern to give you a clear picture of how good the Huskies have looked with plenty of the Husky faithful in attendance. 

But, that was just the easy part of this two game set. Now, it was time for one of the toughest teams in college baseball to go toe-to-toe with UConn and in this one, it was on their turf. While many would expect the Eagles to have the upper hand on Wednesday, it was instead where Connecticut would take over and the bats would wake up. 

It may in fact have been the most impressive offensive performance that UConn baseball has showcased thus far. 

Connecticut’s 12-1 win over the Eagles was so dominant that it would end in a mercy ruled decision in the seventh inning. Not a bad way to rebound from a blowout the day before. Five Husky players would have a two-hit game with the player of the game going to Luke Broadhurst, who’d knock in four RBI’s including a seventh inning two-run bomb.  

It was a matchup where the Hook C offense not only delivered at the plate, but also on the mound. Manager Jim Penders called on Garrett Coe to silence Boston College and his two innings of work helped show that this program wasn’t ready to drop two in a row despite the challenge. Other than the one run from Coe, the Husky bullpen pitched excellent against a tough Eagles offense that had given them trouble on their turf. And now, the Huskies have done the same. 

It was a perfect way to end the team’s two game slate with the latter battle coming in a tough road environment. Yet, the Huskies handled it convincingly and sent a statement out to the rest of college baseball. As the Hook C get ready to take on Georgetown in a weekend series in Storrs, they’ll look to ride the momentum from one of the highlights of a strong season.