In the last two games of their Big East-opening series versus the Xavier Musketeers last weekend, it was the UConn baseball team’s pitching that delivered the damage. Fresh off that massive conference series victory, the Huskies’ bats erupted against two America East Conference opponents.
In particular, second-year graduate student Luke Broadhurst raked. At third base, he went 6-8 with three longballs in two games and raised his season batting average from .234 to .282.
The first of those homers came in the third inning of Tuesday afternoon’s 12-1 triumph over the Bryant Bulldogs. Leading off the frame against righty Mark Scamardella, Broadhurst belted a 1-2 pitch beyond Bryant’s bullpen for a 5-0 Connecticut lead.
Prior to the third baseman’s booming solo shot, the Hook C offense started hot. Two hits by pitches from Bulldogs starter Toby Scheidt put runners on the corners with one away in the first. Although catcher Jackson Phinney caught shortstop Paul Tammaro stealing, left fielder Korey Morton broke the ice early with an RBI single that landed in fair territory.
Right fielder Jake Studley kept UConn’s offense flowing in the second. A throwing error and a four-pitch walk knocked Scheidt out of the game, but Scamardella fared no better. Studley smacked the payoff pitch with two away, driving in both runners who were on base for a 3-0 Huskies advantage. Redshirt junior Bryan Padilla brought home the Big East Preseason Player of the Year three pitches later.
Bryant’s bats, held to one hit through three innings, responded in the fourth. Designated hitter Brandyn Durand singled and took second on a wild pitch, stopping the shutout bid on Carmine Petosa’s RBI single. Junior Joe Carrea relieved midweek starter Ben Schild following that hit and struck the next two Bulldogs out swinging. Righty M.T. Morrissey returned the favor in the bottom half, relieving Bradley Lewis and holding Connecticut scoreless for the first time all afternoon.
Braden Quinn escaped trouble twice over the ensuing two innings. Quinn relieved Carrea with a runner in scoring position in the fifth, escaping the jam unscathed on Zac Zyons’ grounder to second. Two walks put the junior southpaw in another pickle in the sixth. Despite the adversity he faced, Quinn struck Daniel Baruch out swinging and kept Bryant’s offense at bay. The Hook C subsequently made the Bulldogs pay for not scoring in the bottom half when first baseman Maddix Dalena whacked a 3-1 count to the wall. Designated hitter Matt Malcom sprinted to the plate from first as UConn got their run back.
Leading 6-1 was not enough. Senior southpaw Ryan Bradley nearly escaped a two-runner situation unscathed in the seventh inning, but Dalena smacked an RBI double into right field. The Huskies kept the floodgates open when pinch-runner Drew Kron scored on a passed ball. Two consecutive RBI singles gave Connecticut a 10-1 lead.
Broadhurst iced the contest in the bottom of the eighth, following southpaw Charlie West’s 1-2-3 frame. The third baseman blasted a 2-2 pitch into the Hook C bullpen with one aboard, enforcing the 10-run mercy rule.
UConn’s offense responded after Jake Marquez’s two-run shot put the Maine Black Bears ahead during the following afternoon. Malcom cut the Huskies’ deficit in half in the second inning when he grounded into a fielder’s choice; his team went ahead on the very next pitch. Dalena demolished a three-run homer toward the woods for his fifth blast of the year as Connecticut went ahead 4-2.
Padilla smoked his own two-run shot three batters later and, with Tammaro in scoring position, Morton brought home the Hook C’s seventh run of the frame with an RBI double. Only then did Maine head coach Nick Derba pull starting pitcher Noah Lewis; Gabe Gifford fared no better. Given the green light, Broadhurst whacked an opposite-field, two-run shot for his third blast in approximately 25 hours. While they left the bases juiced, UConn scored nine runs on seven hits and sent 15 batters to the plate in that frame.
The Huskies followed that offensive outburst with 13 players stepping into the batter’s box in a seven-run third. Studley, who popped out in foul territory during the second, sent the first pitch of the frame over the fence for his sixth homer of the season as Connecticut crossed double figures. Broadhurst drove in Tammaro on an RBI single, scoring himself when Malcom mashed a two-run base knock. Studley would have put ducks on the pond again when he walked on a full count, but the payoff pitch sailed past Black Bears catcher Dean O’Neill.
Two runs scored on that play and Tammaro brought home one more on an RBI single. Pinch-hitter TC Simmons kept the foot on the gas for the Hook C in the bottom of the fourth when he smacked an 0-1 pitch to the deepest part of right field. Simmons’ blazing speed took him all the way to third base for a standup, two-run triple.
UConn’s decisive 19-2 advantage allowed head coach Jim Penders to utilize some of his lesser-used bullpen arms. Redshirt junior Hector Alejandro entered first after relieving Jack Sullivan and worked a 1-2-3 top of the fifth. True freshman Tommy Turner followed and recorded his first-career strikeout in the sixth. SUNY Oswego transfer Kieran Finnegan made his Huskies’ debut after that punchout and stranded Mark Sargent at second on two pitches.
Connecticut’s first hit of the bottom half — a Caleb Shpur RBI single with team captain Ryan Hyde at third — put the cherry on top. First-year righty Sean Finn relieved graduate student Cam Mayer following a one-out single in the seventh. He tossed five pitches for the final two outs as the Hook C run-ruled Maine 20-2.
UConn’s nine-game homestand hits the final stretch with a critical weekend series against the St. John’s Red Storm. First pitch Friday night is at 6:05 p.m. EDT on the Big East Digital Network.