UConn lost the first of its Big East three-game series against Creighton on a rainy Thursday afternoon, falling to the Bluejays 3-1.
The Huskies entered the matchup coming off a prominent 21-5 victory over Northeastern, where they snapped their six-game losing streak and brought their record to 15-15.
Junior left-handed pitcher Charlie West got the game started for the Huskies on the mound. West pitched an impressive seven innings allowing two runs.
It was a low hitting game for the Huskies, with Rob Rispoli leading the game with two hits despite being unable to score a run.
After a quiet first inning, sophomore Peyton Jemison got the scoring started in the bottom of the second with a double to left field that brought in Nater Wachter from third base to give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third, Creighton’s Rocco Gump doubled down the infield line to put teammate Peyton Jem on second base. West successfully struck out Nick Bowron to put away Creighton’s scoring chances.
Rispoli tried to steal second base during the bottom of the third but was unsuccessfully doing so, resulting in UConn’s second out of the inning. Cam Righi got out at first base, sending the game to the fourth inning.
During the top of the fourth, West walked Ben North but successfully struck out Nate McHugh.
North attempted to get on second base, but second-baseman Evan Menzel appeared to tag him, which sent the play to be reviewed. After reviewing the play, it was determined that North successfully stole second base prior to the tag. However, West put away the remaining Creighton hitters to close out the top of the fourth.
The pressure was on West during the top of the fifth when Creighton loaded the bases with just one out. After striking out Bowron, teammate Teddy Deters singled to left field which brought Gump and Connor Capece home and gave Creighton its first lead of the game.
After a scoreless sixth inning for both teams, UConn looked to respond after Creighton was unable to bring in a run during the top of the seventh. Despite strong hits from Chris Polemeni and Righi, UConn was unable to score.
UConn switched out West for Greg Shaw III to begin the eighth inning. Creighton’s attempts to get on the scoreboard were not granted by Shaw, who successfully struck out three players to send the Huskies into the bottom of the eight still trailing one.
Creighton had another pitching change in the eighth inning where Jimmy Burke joined his team on the mound. Watcher reached first from an error Creighton made which left Menzel on the plate in an attempt to score. Before that could happen, Wachter tried to steal second and got tagged to send the game into the final inning.
UConn found themselves in a tough situation when Isaac Wachsmann advanced to third with zero outs. Lew Rice bunted the ball to send Wachsmann home and give Creighton a 3-1.
In the bottom of the ninth, Burke successfully struck out all three UConn players to end the game with a final score of 3-1.
UConn will look to bounce back from the loss in the remaining two games in hopes to secure a series victory. With the loss, UConn’s record is now 15-16 and a 2-2 Big East record.
The two teams will return to Elliot Ballpark on Friday for game two with a start time of 2:05 p.m. They will conclude their series on Saturday at 10:05 a.m. If fans are unable to make it to the ballpark, all games will be available to watch on ESPN+.