MLB: George Springer records three hits in loss to Kansas City
Last Tuesday, Blue Jays outfielder George Springer bounced back from a 3/23 hitting slump in a big way, connecting for three singles in the Blue Jays’ 3-2 loss to the Royals. Despite the 34-year- old’s recent cold stretch, the team hopes this performance will serve as a catalyst for a hot period of play after struggling with a .220 batting average and .317 on base percentage this season.
Springer, now four years into a six-year contract worth $150 million, has been one of the best in the bigs up to this point. The 34-year-old has been an MLB All-Star four times across his 10-year MLB career and even led the Houston Astros to a World Series Championship in 2017, winning World Series MVP in that run. The former UConn superstar will be looking to return to form in the leadoff sport and lead Toronto to their first playoff series win since 2016.
NFL: Christian Haynes and Eric Watts await selection in tonight’s NFL Draft
As the much-anticipated 2024 NFL Draft finally arrives, the dreams of 257 young players will come true, including the anchors of UConn’s offensive and defensive line.
Christian Haynes is the first Husky projected to come off the board in this year’s NFL Draft after earning All-America honors over the past two seasons. The Maryland native once again proved that he was one of the most dominant offensive linemen in the country, allowing just one sack in 802 snaps this past year. Listed at 6-foot-2, 318 pounds, Haynes played in the Senior Bowl on Feb. 3 and is viewed as a second or third-round draft selection according to many NFL Draft databases.
Expected to follow Haynes is Eric Watts, who was one of the best edge rushers Connecticut has had in recent years. The 6-foot-6 defensive lineman from Sumter, S.C. finished his 2023 campaign with 34 tackles, two sacks and two forced fumbles, with his most recent highlight coming in the one-on-one drills in the Senior Bowl. Many draft boards have Watts going in the sixth or seventh round of this year’s draft as nfldraftbuzz.com ranks Watts as the 187th overall prospect.
NHL: Ruslan Iskhakov becomes the seventh Husky to play in the NHL
After earning AHL All-Star selections in back-to-back seasons, the New York Islanders called up former UConn forward Ruslan Iskhakov to make his NHL debut. Iskhakov, a native of Moscow, Russia, spent two seasons at Connecticut (2018-2020) before the COVID-19 pandemic forced him and his family to move to Europe, where he played professionally. Despite only seeing 14 minutes of time on the ice in his NHL debut, the 23-year-old made the most of it, facilitating the game-winning goal in the Islanders’ 5-4 win over Pittsburgh. Iskhakov joins Todd Krygier, Cole Schneider, Tage Thompson, Max Letunov, Adam Húska and Yan Kuznetsov as the only Huskies to crack an NHL roster.