Welcome back to Elliot Ballpark, and welcome home to Evan Menzel.
The UConn baseball team (5-7) snapped a two-game losing skid with a 9-4 win over New Haven (0-7) in the home-opener on Wednesday afternoon.
UConn may have experienced a delay this morning due to icy conditions, but the temperature was warm enough for baseball weather, reaching the 50s as the Huskies had their earliest home game in program history, according to the UConn+ broadcast.
New Haven, in its first season at the Division I level and in search of its first win of the season, threatened early in the game, loading the bases up in the first inning before Huskies’ starting pitcher Tristan Aasland got out of the jam.
Connecticut, the preseason Big East favorites, is currently without outfielder Tyler Minick, but hopes to have him back soon.
Menzel’s All-Big East-level presence was not needed Wednesday as he hit for the cycle, including a two-run inside-the-park homer in his first UConn home game. It was UConn’s first cycle since Brian Esposito on April 15, 1999, per the broadcast.
That eighth inning was as prolific as an inning has been this season for the Huskies’ offense, driving in five runs. It proved to be a critical cushion as New Haven rallied to four runs in the ninth inning.
The eighth-inning scoring started with catcher Gabriel Tirado hitting a sacrifice fly to right field to drive third baseman Maddix Dalena in to score. It was the second time in the game that Tirado helped get his team in the scoring column, with designated hitter Cam Righi driving him in with an RBI single in the bottom of the second inning.
Righi had himself a day and was responsible for two of UConn’s five runs in the eighth inning. The freshman from Wethersfield, Conn. doubled to right-center field to drive center fielder Nater Wachter across home plate. It was his first-career double and an important one in this game. Later in the inning, 90 feet away from scoring, Righi walked across the plate on a balk.
While Menzel’s inside-the-parker will go down as a home run in the box score, the Huskies got one in the air on a 50-degree afternoon with first baseman Jackson Marshall knocking a two-run no-doubter to deep-center field, his third of the season.
Coming into the game with a 13.50 earned-run average, starting pitcher Tristan Aasland stifled the Chargers’ offense after getting out of a bases-loaded jam in the first inning. He finished the game with five strikeouts, two walks and four hits given up in five innings pitched. That included an impressive fourth inning. Despite giving up runners at first and second base, the righty from Snoqualmie, Wash. struck out the side to keep New Haven scoreless.
The pitching staff totaled nine strikeouts and 12 hits; the latter statistic inflated by the four-run ninth inning. The bats were hot as the temperature was abnormally warm for winter. As a team, the Huskies combined for 12 hits, four doubles, three triples and two home runs. They only struck out a combined six times.
UConn, now 1-0 in the newborn history with New Haven, will now turn its attention to a three-game road trip to Norfolk, Va., taking on Old Dominion before returning to Storrs to host New England rival Boston College.