The UConn baseball team is back for its second scrimmage of the fall season after taking on UConn Avery Point earlier this month. The final score of the first scrimmage was 27-0, where the Huskies’ pitching staff was top tier and the bats were red hot. The second scrimmage will be a bigger test for the team, though, as they travel to West Point to face the Army Black Knights. This will be a good early telling point for the team as they face a solid roster over at Army. Last year, the Black Knights earned a 31-23 record, which was good enough to get them to the first round of the college baseball World Series. 
In the fall, teams won’t try to burn their pitchers’ arms out before spring, so there should be a good mix of players for both teams along with their aces. The Huskies will look for their veteran leaders to get them going in this one against an Army team that likes to score. Army scored over 10 runs many times last season and will look to do that in this scrimmage as they have one of the highest power offenses in college baseball. The Huskies will look to combat this by getting timely hits and playing to their strengths. Connecticut is a great fielding ballclub, so preventing errors will be huge in this one as Army has numerous players that can run, including star Chris Barr. Barr hit .341 last season, which led the team in average. The next closest player was William Parker at .318. The Army ace, as we mentioned before, should start this one in Justin Lehman. However, the lineups have not been released yet as it is just a scrimmage. Lehman is a two-way product as he splits time on the mound and at first base, making him one of the most important players on the roster. Last season, he was electric on the mound posting a 2.48 ERA while going 5-4.
The Huskies starters should see more playing time, as this scrimmage should be more competitive than the last. The Huskies had much pop in their last scrimmage and will look for more offensive firepower in this one. Maddix Dalena will be a name to keep an eye on for the Huskies, as he was one of the team’s top hitters last year and is back for another season. Also, a noteworthy name to look at in this one will be Tyler Minick, who will look to have a breakout sophomore year after a very impressive freshman campaign. This should be a fun one for fans, as this would be a non-conference game if played in the regular season. The preseason is great for teams to scrimmage others that they would not typically see in the regular season. Both teams will continue playing in the respective conferences this fall as the Army competes in the AAC while UConn participates in the Big East. This scrimmage is one of the first steps to get to Ohama and it should be interesting to see how the Hook C performs versus Army.