The UConn softball team traveled to Providence, R.I. for a three-game series against the Providence Friars. A doubleheader was played on Friday, with the final game played on Sunday. They finished the series with a 3-1 win.
The program came off an impressive 10-4 win at home against UMass. The team was led by senior Lexi Hastings, who had her second four-hit game and 13th multi-hit game of the season. Junior Grace Jenkins also contributed, recording her 11th multi-RBI game this season. Sophomore Kaitlyn Breslin and freshman Cat Petteys also dominated both recording their 10th multi-hit game of the season.
The series started off with a stumble for the Huskies, ending in a 4-1 loss. Graduate student pitcher Payton Kinney made her 15th start of the season in the game. She gave an impressive performance, playing six innings, adding five strikeouts and giving up just one earned run. Hastings started the game off strong for the Huskies with an impressive offensive performance. She scored early in the first inning. Providence then tied the game in the fourth inning. The Friars then went on a run in the sixth inning, scoring three runs. Junior Elisa Smith brought in a run on a fielder’s choice, followed by a triple RBI from senior Rachael Petrarca. The Huskies were not able to make up this margin. This is the first time since March 14, when the Huskies were playing against Tennessee, that the Huskies were held to just one run.
The Huskies bounced back in the second game of Friday with a 17-6 win. Junior pitcher Hope Jenkins was an integral part of the team’s win. She had her eighth start of the season and went 6.1 innings with zero earned runs and five strikeouts. H. Jenkins and G. Jenkins were a formidable duo, with H. Jenkins delivering a two-out single to center field, scoring G. Jenkins from second base. The team pulled ahead in the second inning with three runs on three hits, raising their lead to 4-0. Hastings came up to bat with the bases loaded and forced junior Haley Coupal to score from third base. The next run came from senior infielder Rosie Garcia scoring Savannah Ring. The third run of the inning came from sophomore outfielder Kaitlyn Breslin scoring Hastings from third base. UConn added to their lead in the third inning with Ring scoring Petteys. In the fourth inning, the program extended their lead when Garcia hit her fourth home run of the season. This marks the 46th homerun of the season, breaking the program record for home runs in a single season.
In the fifth inning, G. Jenkins hit another home run and brought in a two-run homer, giving her 12 home runs of the season. The two RBIs gave Jenkins 48 runs batted in this season, breaking the single season program record, which was set by Karin Muller in 1996. In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Friars attempted to come back, scoring five runs, bringing the score to 11-5. The Huskies did not allow the Friars to gain momentum. In the sixth inning, Hastings scored junior outfielder Kaitlyn Kibling from third base. Providence tried to stay in the game with another run in the sixth; however, the Huskies prevented this by putting up five runs in the seventh inning. Hastings closed out the game with her second career grand slam and fifth homer of the season.
The Huskies closed off the series with a big 16-0 win on Sunday. The team put up a strong offensive and defensive front, holding the Friars off. The Huskies brought in the first two runs in the second inning, with Hastings scoring Coupal and freshman catcher Heidi Barber. The last play of the game gave the Huskies three more runs. Petteys homered to left center, scoring Breslin, Garcia and G. Jenkins.
The final game of the series brought the Huskies’ overall record to 24-14 and conference record to 11-4. Next up, the Huskies will look to continue to dominate at home against Fairfield on Wednesday, April 16.