After kicking off the new season with a 2-1 showing in the University of South Florida Baseball Tournament last weekend, the University of Connecticut baseball team will hit the West Coast for three games against the University of California Golden Bears starting on Friday.
UConn entered the season with high expectations after scoring well on the BIG EAST Preseason Coaches’ Poll. Graduate students Jake Studley and Stephen Quigley were named the conference Player of the Year and Pitcher of the Year, respectively. Subsequently, both players were named to the Preseason All-Conference Team alongside another Husky in senior left-handed pitcher Garrett Coe. Connecticut was voted to be the top team in the BIG EAST after receiving six of eight first-place votes and 48 total points in the predicted standings, four points better than projected runner-up Xavier.
The Hook C took on Louisville for their first of two Opening Day games last Friday. Junior right-handed pitcher Ian Cooke got the start and was stellar. He toss six shutout innings while allowing just three hits and striking out five to stifle the Cardinals. Senior Korey Morton got the Huskies on the board after smacking a solo home run in the bottom of the fifth inning. After Louisville took a 3-1 lead, graduate students Paul Tammaro and Studley launched back-to-back solo dingers to tie the game at three-all. In the bottom of the ninth, Morton returned to the plate with two outs and served a walk-off single to center field to walk-off the Cards, securing the 4-3 win. Freshman Ben Schild received his first collegiate win with 2.2 innings of shutout ball in relief.
Game two of the day came later that night against South Florida. This time it was Garrett Coe who started and delivered the Hook C’s second consecutive stellar starting pitcher performance. The lefty worked through 5.1 innings and allowed one run, allowing just three hits and striking out five. He would be credited with the win after the contest’s conclusion. An RBI single from sophomore Ryan Daniels in the second and a Studley RBI single in the third gave the Huskies all of the runs they needed. The Hook C pitching staff held strong with redshirt sophomore Tommy Ellisen tossing 2.2 shutout innings and junior Brady Afthim striking out the side in the ninth to secure his first career save and cement the 2-1 win.
Despite another outstanding performance by a UConn starter in the weekend’s third game against Indiana State, the Huskies were unable to come away with a victory. Quigley received the nod and allowed just one run on five hits while issuing no walks and punching out five over 5.2 innings. Sophomore Maddix Dalena drove in Connecticut’s lone run with an RBI groundout in the top of the ninth, but the Husky offense was unable to get going against Indian State starter Jacob Pruitt.
It seems that the team manager has narrowed in on the three-headed monster of Cooke, Coe and Quigley to be the Hook C’s top three starters this season. Expect those three to spearhead Connecticut’s three upcoming contests versus California. If any are unable to go, junior right-hander Jack Sullivan or Ellisen could receive the nod.
Entering this season, the Golden Bears were projected to finish in eighth out of the 11 PAC-12 teams according to the conference’s Preseason Coaches Poll. The team tied for the most selections to the Preseason All-Conference Team with five as junior outfielder Rodney Green Jr., senior infielder Max Handron, junior catcher Caleb Lomavita, junior left-handed pitcher Ian May and senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Stasiowski all received the honor. In addition, Lomavita was recognized as a Preseason All-American by Baseball America. One of the best catchers in the nation last season, Lomavita’s All-American is well-deserved after he batted .316 and led the Golden Bears with 14 home runs, 65 hits and a .612 SLG%. He was second on the team with 43 RBIs.
Like Connecticut, Kansas State has amassed a 2-1 record in the first weekend of the season. Unlike the Huskies, California has participated in three high-scoring affairs: they defeated No. 24 Kansas State 6-3 on Opening Day last Friday to start off their season. They followed with a 12-3 beatdown over the Georgetown on Saturday before coming up short in a slugfest versus Boston College on Sunday, losing 12-10.
Freshman Trey Newmann, graduate student Luke Short and junior Andres Galan all started for California in their first three games last weekend. Newman was effective against Kansas State after navigating through 4.0 innings and allowing just one hit and one walk. The 6’6” freshman allowed no runs while striking out six batters in the no-decision. Against Georgetown, Short allowed just one run to score and struck out four batters. He navigated around trouble as the lefty also allowed three hits and walked four in the short start. Galan was unable to escape the first innings against BC, pitching 0.2 frames and allowing three runs on two hits and three walks.
All three figure to be head coach Mike Neu’s first choices to go against the Hook C, though freshman Oliver de la Torre could see a start after pitching 4 innings of relief against Georgetown last weekend in which he allowed two runs and struck out six. Graduate student Tom Mayer could also be a candidate after he made four starts last season and struck out five batters in three innings against BC, allowing two runs.
The action is set to take place at Stu Gordon Stadium in Berkeley, Calif. Game one will be Friday at 9:05 p.m. Game two will be Saturday at 5:05 p.m. and the series concludes on Sunday with one final game set for 4:05 p.m. Fans at home can tune into the game’s live audio broadcast via MIXLR.