The University of Connecticut baseball team, fresh off a very successful weekend, will return to their home turf in Storrs where they will look to stay hot in two midweek games against the University of Massachusetts and Hofstra University.
The Hook C is 11-3 in 14 games since the first day of April. This past weekend, the team swept Georgetown in three games, beating the team with the best record in the Big East on the road. Despite a 20-18 overall record, the strong weekend propelled the Huskies to 7-2 in Big East play. They are now in first place in the conference.
In a 7-6 win on Friday, Ian Cooke had a solid outing in his first start since being reinserted as head coach Jim Penders’ Friday starter. He pitched five innings and allowed four runs while striking out 10 batters, his second straight game with double-digit Ks. Luke Broadhurst and Caleb Shpur lead the offense with three RBIs each, including a tie-breaking home run by Broadhurst in the ninth. Korey Morton also homered in the contest. Braden Quinn was outstanding out of the bullpen, striking out all six of the batters he faced over a scoreless eighth and ninth inning en route to his second win this season.
The Huskies took advantage of five errors by the Hoyas to take game two 5-4 on Sunday. Bryan Padilla pulled through on a day where the Husky offense managed a combined three hits. He had two, including a game-tying home run in the fourth and a two-RBIs single to take the lead in the eighth. He had four RBIs total. Connecticut starter Garret Coe was outstanding in his fifth win of the year. He bulldozed through 7.2 innings after allowing three runs in the second, striking out nine batters. Brady Afthim worked a perfect ninth to secure his first save of the weekend.
A 7-6 victory secured the sweep after a big fourth inning gave UConn a lead before a Tyler Minick two-run home run in the fifth gave his team seven runs in the game. Maddix Dalena (two), Shpur, Broadhurst and Morton also had RBIs in the game. Hook C starter Stephen Quigley allowed three runs over 4.2 innings in the no-decision. The Hoyas offense made the game interesting by pulling within one run late, but Afthim shut the door in the ninth for his fifth save of the year. Jack Sullivan was credited with his second win of the year out of the pen.
Gabe Van Emon is likely to receive a start after pitching in Connecticut’s midweek slate last weekend. He hasn’t reached the third inning in any of his last three starts; he’ll hope the out-of-conference games will provide a bounce back. He’s 1-4 with a 6.81 ERA in 11 games (seven starts) this season. UConn’s other starter is not so clear and there’ll likely be a bullpen game during the week. That game could see any number of Joe Cinnella, Ben Schild or even Cooke start the game and go for a short outing before handing it over to the pen.
A strong weekend with the bat for Broadhurst has placed him first for UConn in batting average at .299. He’s also first in home runs (nine), RBIs (32) and slugging % (.590). Aside from his two hits and home run on Friday, the third baseman had two more hits and another RBI on Sunday. He’ll look to keep momentum on his and his team’s side ahead of the midweek games.
At 14-21 overall and 5-7 against Atlantic 10 opponents, the UMass Minutemen are in eighth place out of the 11 teams in the conference. They won their series last weekend, claiming victory in the first two of three games against George Mason in Fairfax, Virginia. Carter Hanson had five RBIs over the weekend while Michael Toth had three to lead the offense. The Minutemen bullpen held strong in each of the two wins.
Sam Belliveau should draw the Tuesday start after pitching just one inning in his previous outing on Friday against George Mason. He is 2-5 overall this season in nine starts, posting a 6.47 ERA. If not Belliveau, then Justin Masteralexis is a candidate for the nod. He’s 3-1 with a 4.94 ERA in seven outings (six starts) this year.
Catcher/designated hitter Mike Gervasi has been a beast at the plate for his Minutemen this year. He’s compiled a .309 batting average and leads his team with 10 home runs and 27 RBIs. He’s also first for UMass in total bases (68), slugging % (.618) and on-base plus slugging % (1.024). Gervasi will pose a threat in the heart of the Minutemen’s lineup on Tuesday.
A 14-25 overall record and 5-10 conference record have the Hofstra Pride in 10th place of the 12 teams in the Coastal Athletic Association. They claimed a series win in a three-game set against Campbell last weekend, including a walk-off 10-inning victory on Sunday. The Pride offense did enough to hold off Campbell by putting up 28 total runs in the series.
It could be Steven Kaenzig who gets the start for Hofstra after working just 0.2 innings of relief on Sunday. He’s appeared in 12 games this year (nine starts) and has a 10.35 ERA over 40.0 innings. It could also be a bullpen day for the Pride, who have deployed names like Joseph Curreri, Tanner Sanderoff and Penn Sealey for multiple starts apiece throughout this season.
Both games will be hosted by the Hook C at their home field in Elliot Ballpark. Tuesday’s bout against UMass is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. while the Hofstra match on Wednesday is set for 3:35 p.m. Both games will be available for streaming on UConn+.