This Wednesday afternoon, the UConn Huskies are set to take a trip to Amherst, Massachusetts to face the UMass Minutewomen in a New England matchup.
UConn will be coming off a series win over the Creighton Bluejays during which the team’s pitching was dominant again, holding the Bluejays to just four runs across three games while the offense woke up and produced 18 runs. Lexi Hastings drove in five runs for the Huskies, including a three-run shot in Sunday’s finale to lead the Huskies to the 7-0 victory. Lauren Benson drove in three in Friday’s win against Creighton while Hope Jenkins drove in three on Sunday’s game to aid the UConn victory.
UMass is entering the game on a little bit of a lull. The Minutewomen are 2-5 in April with an overall record of 12-26. Their last weekend saw them take on George Mason at home, where they were outslugged for the first two games of the series. UMass couldn’t hold the Patriots’ bats at bay, giving up 19 runs in a Saturday double-header as they were defeated in back-to-back games. Sunday’s game took a complete 180 as the Minutewomen stole one from the Patriots, winning in a close 2-1 battle that saw the most dominant pitching of the weekend.
The Minutewomen are led on offense by senior Sarah Keagy, who leads the team with an OPS of .899 in 93 at-bats. Her eight home runs, 22 RBIs and 17 walks are also team highs with players like Chloe Whittier (.874 OPS), Bella Pantoja (16 RBIs) and Lydia Castro (3 HRs) not far behind. As a team, the Minutewomen have a slash line of .223/.321/.322. As for pitching, UMass has a team ERA of 4.90 and has given up 206 runs (172 earned) in 245.2 innings pitched.
Connecticut is led by their big five: Lexi Hastings (6 HRs, 20 RBIs), Grace Jenkins (5 HRs, 35 RBIs), Hope Jenkins (6 HRs, 30 RBIs), Rosie Garcia (8 HRs, 26 RBIs) and Jana Sanden (5 HRs, 23 RBIs), with each player having over five home runs this year and more than 20 RBIs. On the pitching side, UConn has a team ERA of 2.89 through 41 games with Hallie Siems leading the way with a 3.11 ERA in 99 innings of work.
In the last meeting between these teams a season ago, UConn came out on top with a 5-0 win here in Storrs. Backed by a strong showing from both Payton Kinney and Meghan O’Neil (combining for seven innings and allowing just three singles), Grace Jenkins’ three RBIs helped hand UConn the victory. Connecticut has won all three of the last meetings and is 6-4 against UMass in their last 10 matchups.
The first pitch for Wednesday’s game is set for 4 p.m. at Sortino Field in Amherst, Massachusetts.