The University of Connecticut baseball team is set for two midweek matchups as they return from their West Coast road trip to take on the Rhode Island Rams in the Ocean State on Tuesday before coming back to Storrs for their home opener against the Long Island Sharks on Wednesday.
The Hook C played eight games in the state of California beginning on March 8. They played stiff competition, including No. 25 UC Santa Barbara, UCLA, No. 23 UC Irvine and Cal Baptist. The Huskies managed to go 4-4 in those eight games, including two convincing wins against Baptist to end the road trip on a high note.
After their West Coast road trip, the Huskies now stand at 7-10 overall on the campaign. They have the second-lowest winning percentage of the eight Big East teams, though that does not reflect their relative standing in the conference since conference play has yet to commence.
Connecticut head coach Jim Penders will likely deploy a mix of pitchers for the midweek games after standouts Garrett Coe and Stephen Quigley ate multiple innings toward the latter portions of the West Coast trip. It could be righty Ben Schild who gets the nod against URI after he was extremely effective in a 5-0 win over Irvine on the 13th, not allowing a run to score while yielding just 1 hit and striking out a career-best nine batters in the victory.
Gabe Van Emon is a candidate to start the home opener after pitching well in his last three starts. His most recent effort came against Cal Baptist where the lefty struck out a season-high 9 batters over five innings. He allowed three runs on five hits and three walks and was credited with the loss in the showing. Van Emon allowed just 1 run over his prior two starts, spanning 12.1 innings. Besides Schild or Van Emon, Ian Cooke could see a start after seeing action out of the bullpen in his previous five outings.
Korey Morton has been a strong fixture in the heart of the Huskies lineup as the outfielder leads his team in most of the major offensive categories. Starting all 17 games, the senior paces UConn with a .306 batting average, 12 runs batted in, six doubles, 22 hits, 11 runs scored and 40 total bases. He’s also swatted four homers, third-most for the Huskies, has a .342 on-base percentage and a .556 slugging percentage. Morton will look to keep the momentum mounting as the Connecticut offense turns toward their next opponents.
The Rams have had a forgettable start to their season, posting a 3-12 record through 15 contests. Their last series was a three-game set versus Northeastern where URI dropped two of the three games. Like the Huskies, the Rams have yet to partake in any conference games within the Atlantic 10 conference, though their current winning percentage places them in 12th place out of the 12 teams.
Rhode Island has been operating with three primary starters early in the season. Two of them, Sean Sposato and Evan Maloney, are unlikely to receive the nod against UConn after each started a game in a doubleheader against NE on Saturday. Connor Grotyohann is the most likely member of the Rams’ pitching staff to be on the bump versus Connecticut. He had a forgettable outing on Saturday against NE, working through just 1.2 innings while yielding six runs on four hits and a season-high four walks without recording a strikeout in the loss. If not Grotyohann, Trystan Levesque has provided two starts this year while Zach Morris has chipped in one.
Junior Anthony DePino has been the Rams’ top power threat this season. A Madison, Connecticut native, DePino attended Daniel Hand High School in the town before starting his collegiate career with Rhode Island. He’s appeared in all 15 of URI’s games this season, batting .245 with a team-high five home runs and 11 RBIs. His 30 total bases and .566 SLG % also pace his squad.
The Huskies have had the Rams’ number in the past, going 122-68-5 against the team in the past. The most recent matchup came back on April 25, 2023, when UConn bested URI by a 9-0 score at Dunkin’ Park in Hartford, Connecticut. The Hook C has won the previous two matchups between the two programs, though Rhode Island emerged victorious the last time the two met in the Ocean State, winning 6-2 back on March 26, 2022.
Like the Rams, LIU has been underwhelming in the early portions of the campaign. They are 4-12 overall on the season and have already played six games within the Northeastern Conference, going 3-3 in those contests. That conference record puts them in sixth place out of the 12 teams in the NEC. Their most recent series was a conference matchup against Central Connecticut State in which the Sharks dropped two of the three contests.
The Sharks have also been rolling out the same trio of starters. If that trend continues, it will be Garrett Yawn’s turn to take the bump against Connecticut after Dominic Pieto and Jared Hughes pitched the final two games in the series against the Blue Devils. Yawn has the best-earned run average of the three starters at 5.18, allowing 14 earned runs over 24.1 innings. He received the loss in the series opener against CCSU but was able to mitigate what could’ve been more damage: he allowed five runs (two earned) after yielding 10 hits and two walks but struck out eight batters, tied for his season high.
Redshirt senior Jake Mastillo has been a force for the Sharks offense in the early going. He leads LIU in many offensive categories, including his .333 BA, 21 hits, seven doubles, 20 RBIs, 43 total bases, .683 OBP and 1.041 on-base plus slugging percentage. His five home runs are second in his squad. He’ll look to lead Long Island’s offense against the Huskies in the midweek tilt.
URI is set to host the Hook C at Bill Beck Field in Kingston, Rhode Island at 3 p.m. on Tuesday. Fans at home can catch that game live on ESPN+. The Hook C will make their long-awaited return to Storrs for their home opener at Elliot Ballpark against LIU at 2:05 p.m. on Wednesday. Fans at home can catch that game live on UConn+.