After notching their first win of the season against Florida Atlantic on Sunday in an extra innings thriller, the UConn baseball team (1-5) is set to participate in the Southern California Classic this weekend. The Huskies will take on USC (7-1) on Friday at Great Park in Irvine, Calif. Then, on Saturday and Sunday, they will play UCLA (7-2) and Vanderbilt (8-1) at the Jackie Robinson Stadium in Los Angeles.
In Connecticut’s matchup against FAU on Sunday, sophomore Tyler Minick played an integral role for the Huskies after missing the program’s opening weekend due to a facial injury.
Against the Owls, the Pennsylvania native racked up a homerun in all three games of their series. One of those was a three-run homer last Friday, a grand slam on Saturday and a two-run homer in the eighth inning on Sunday to tie the squads up at three.
Adding this win to their record was imperative for the Hook C squad, who kicked off their season and non-conference schedule with a 0-5 record, the program’s worst since the 2008 season. In addition, with Connecticut starting off their season with five losses, it’s the third time that has happened in head coach Jim Penders’ 22-year coaching tenure, per the team’s website.
In the Huskies’ history against the USC Trojans, they hold a record of 3-1. Both programs last met in 2022. Against UCLA, Connecticut notched a 5-2 win against the Bruins, and against the Commodores, the Huskies currently hold an 0-4 record.
In addition to Minick, a tremendous asset for the Huskies in these three games will be second baseman Ryan Daniels. The junior has racked up a batting average total of .440 and led the Huskies to their win over FAU with his two-run go ahead home run in the tenth inning.
When looking at the Huskies’ depth at the mound, UConn’s pitchers have started the season allowing 39 walks, with 11 of those resulting in hits in their first six matchups. However, one of the members of the pitching staff, Brady Afthim, has notched five strikeouts, four shutout innings and opponents have been hitting .077 against the Maine native.
First pitch for Friday’s game versus USC is scheduled for 9:30 p.m. EST, Saturday’s game versus UCLA for 5 p.m. EST and for Sunday’s game against Vanderbilt, the first pitch is scheduled for 1 p.m. EST. Husky fans can tune into these three separate matchups on B1G+ or MIXLR.