The UConn softball team hosted Fairfield at home for an out-of-conference game on Wednesday. The Huskies came out on top against their in-state rivals, winning 9-0 in five innings due to the NCAA run rule. The game also honored Lieutenant Colonel Peter Gardner, who was invited to throw out the ceremonial first pitch.
The program came off an impressive 2-1 win in a three-game series against Providence. The last game of the series ended in a dominant 16-0 win for the Huskies. In this matchup versus the Stags, Connecticut was dominant from the start and increased their strength in the seventh inning with ten runs. This made it the Huskies largest margin of victory this season and brought their Big East record to 11-4. Graduate student Payton Kinney was a formidable player for the team, throwing five scoreless innings and only giving up two hits with six strikeouts.
The Huskies came out strong against the Stags with two runs in the first inning and four more in the second. Junior Grace Jenkins provided momentum for this early run with a two-run homer to center field in the bottom of the second, bringing UConn’s lead to 4-0. Jenkins had a dominant game finishing 2-for-4 at bat with two RBIs and one run scored.
Senior outfielder Lexi Hastings was a key offensive player for the team, going 2-4 with three runs scored and an RBI. Sophomore Kaitlyn Breslin added to the offensive power, going 2-2 with two RBIs. Senior Rosie Garcia and freshman Cat Petteys proved to be valuable assets, each recording a hit and an RBI keeping the momentum going.
The momentum continued into the third and fourth innings with the team tallying nine total runs on 14 hits by the end of the game. This came from a complete team effort with seven different Huskies recording a hit and five players driving in at least one run.
On the defensive side, junior pitcher Hope Jenkins dominated, pitching four shutout inning and allowing just two hits. She struck out one and walked one to earn her ninth win of the season. Freshman pitcher Amber Bretton entered in the fifth inning and retired three batters to close out the game.
Fairfield struggled throughout the game to generate momentum. They managed only two hits and never advanced a runner past second base. Starting pitcher sophomore Chela Kovar gave up six runs with five earned runs on seven hits over two innings. The Stags also committed two fielding errors early in the game, which aided in UConn’s early scoring surge.
With this commanding win, UConn boosts its momentum going into the latter half of the season, showing its strength both offensively and defensively. The Huskies will look to bring the same strength into their next matchup against in-conference opponent, Depaul, starting on Friday for a three-game series. They will have a double-header on Friday with the games starting at 2 p.m. and 4:30 p.m. and then a game on Saturday commencing at 12 pm. Husky fans can tune into these matchups on FloSports.