In what has been the UConn baseball team’s most dramatic end to a series up to this point in the season, the program had an excellent weekend on the diamond, winning two of three in a series against the St. John’s Red Storm.
Going into the three-game set, the Huskies had won their last four games. A successful series against the Johnnies would most certainly help them continue a stretch of great baseball for this squad. Starting with matchup No. 1 on Friday afternoon, the team was able to truly rise to the challenge in front of the Elliot faithful.
With Gabe Van Emon tabbed to start the series, he’d make it through just 1.1 innings before junior right-hander Ian Cooke was tasked with containing the damage of a bases-loaded, one-out jam. By the time the squad headed toward the bottom of the second, they’d be in a quick 4-1 deficit. Despite a Paul Tammaro double to bring in the Hook C’s first run of the contest, the bats would have to continue to rake to take back control of this ball game.
Yet, just as trouble arose, Connecticut quickly responded via the bat of Maddix Dalena after the power-hitting first baseman sent a ball to deep right field to cut the deficit to one, 4-3. However, the real damage from UConn’s bats had yet to be done.
The Hook C offense would explode for four runs in the third inning, mostly via the way of the long bomb. Three of those four runs would come off two big home runs from both Luke Broadhurst and Korey Morton, with the latter bringing in two of those runs. When you add a throwing error from Johnnies’ third baseman Blake Mayberry, that would help the Huskies take a 7-4 lead in the ballgame, a lead they would never surrender.
While the offense was undoubtedly the talk of the town in Friday’s eventual 11-4 win over the Red Storm, the pitching was equally stupendous following some trouble in the second inning. Not only did Cooke respond in a massive way, but he pitched an incredible 7.2 shutout innings for his squad while giving up just two hits. His 14-strikeout performance was undoubtedly a game-changer for his team in Friday’s win, earning him the game ball from manager Jim Penders.
“Ian got the ball because the game just changed when he came in,” Penders told Director of Baseball Chris Jones following the win. “He’s lights out. That’s what he’s capable of doing. We know that he can do that, and he just looked like a more confident pitcher tonight.”
Unfortunately for the Huskies, following their decisive win over the Red Storm in game one, their opponents would answer in game two.
Unlike in game one, where Connecticut got some big help from their arms, that wouldn’t quite be the case in game two. Senior Garret Coe, fresh off a seven-inning pitching performance against Xavier, would struggle against the Red Storm, giving up six runs in five innings. While the offense was having another great performance overall, grabbing seven runs on the day, the Huskies bullpen would unravel for nine more runs. That would put the game firmly out of reach for Penders and Co., ultimately ending with a 15-7 win for St. John’s.
That put some massive pressure on the Huskies in the rubber match, with the winner taking the series.
The ball for Sunday’s game was in the hands of Stephen Quigley, and in a once again unfortunate reality for the Huskies, the team would fall behind after St. John’s grabbed five runs off the Connecticut starter in just 4.1 innings of action. UConn’s offense wasn’t far behind, though, and fans can thank Tammaro for some clutch hitting on Sunday.
The Huskies infielder was effective on Friday with a 2-4 night but did struggle on Saturday in the team’s loss. In the series decider, Tammaro played some hero ball, batting in the team’s first two runs of the game and helping to cause a Johnnies’ error on the base pads to bring in a third run.
However, despite some terrific play by the New Jersey native on Sunday, St. John’s refused to go away. Heading into the bottom of the sixth, UConn trailed the Red Storm 7-3, yet their confidence never wavered. With the Johnnies firmly in their bullpen and looking for their arms to silence the Husky bats, they’d ultimately fail to do so.
Connecticut would grab two additional runs in the bottom of the sixth thanks to a bases-loaded walk from Matt Garbowski and some more clutch hitting from the one and only Tammaro. Yet, unbelievably, the UConn infielder would embody the word clutch as he’d continue to electrify the Elliot Ballpark crowd when it mattered most.
In the bottom of the seventh, it was Tammaro again, this time via a three-run bomb that would give his squad the lead, 8-7. Just like that, Connecticut had the edge in this ball game.
But, just as St. John’s showed the day prior, they’ve got a stellar offense of their own. With Brady Afthim on the mound, freshman Jayder Raifstanger would launch a ball to deep left field to tie the game at eight. Just as fast as UConn had the lead, the game would take everything from both squads to string out a win.
After Afthim recovered and pitched a scoreless top of the ninth, that set up a situation for the Hook C to walk off the game. After walks from both Dalena and Matt Malcom, the pressure was on for the hot bat of Tammaro with two outs in the inning. On a 1-0 count, Tammaro delivered for Connecticut, smacking a pitch to deep left field just out of the hands of outfielder Garrett Scavelli’s glove to walk it off for his squad, 11–8.
Coming off an incredibly productive series for the Hook C, they’ll stay at Elliot Ballpark and face off against Kansas State on Tuesday evening at 6:05 p.m.