What’s been a great regular season for the Connecticut Huskies softball team is winding down as UConn visits DePaul this weekend. The Huskies’ 18-3 conference record places them first in the Big East and they seem to be a lock for the first overall seed for the Big East Championship.
UConn holds a 31-11 overall record for 2023. The Huskies have been solid all over the field as a unit this season and will look to bring that into this last weekend series. UConn is batting .305/.405/.433 as a team while their staff has pitched to a respectable 3.68 ERA in 273.2 innings. As for fielding, UConn holds a team percentage of .973 which places them 24th in the NCAA. Connecticut is tied for 12th in the nation with Nichols College for stolen bases, swiping 102 bags.
DePaul, on the other hand, is at the complete opposite end of the standings with their 4-14 conference record. Those conference wins came against St. John’s, Providence (twice) and Creighton, with Providence being their only series win against Big East teams. The Blue Demons started off great by winning their first four games of the season, but they have fallen flat ever since winning just eight out of their next 37 games.
Sophomore Anna Wohlers is the Blue Demons’ best offensive asset. The catcher and third baseman leads the team in almost every offensive category including average (.358), OPS (1.173), home runs (11), RBIs (31) and slugging percentage (.742). Senior Brooke Johnson has also provided some offensive output for the team, batting .322 with five home runs and 22 RBIs. As a unit, the Blue Demons have a slash line of .252/.339/.385 in 41 games on the year.
Pitching has been an area of weakness for DePaul as none of their qualified pitchers have an ERA below 5.00. The Blue Demons rely on four players to complete their staff, with senior Brenna Smith carrying the heavy load pitching 89 of the teams 250.1 innings pitched. In those innings, the pitching staff has suffered 225 earned runs, giving them a 6.29 ERA on the season. Opponents are batting a whopping .353 against this pitching staff and have amassed 389 hits and 111 walks.
The games will be played in DePaul’s stadium in Chicago, Illinois. Friday’s game is at 3 p.m., Saturday’s game will be played at 4 p.m. and Sunday has a 1 p.m. gametime to wrap up the series. The Friday and Sunday games can be streamed live on FloSoftball while Saturday’s game will be televised on FS2.
