Down to their final out on Sunday afternoon, the red-hot Huskies did not quit against Butler University. Despite not scoring a run for the first six innings of play, the top of the order pulled through with some timely hitting. Costly mistakes by Butler did not help the Bulldogs’ case either, something that was a theme all weekend in Indianapolis.
Cat Petteys got Friday’s game started with a three-run home run in the top of the first. Ava Calciano added an RBI single to score Kaitlyn Breslin and make it 4-0 Huskies before Butler even got to bat.
The Bulldogs were quick to respond with three first inning runs of their own. Makena Alexander drove Cate Lehner in with a sacrifice fly. An Olivia Robards double scored Hailey Conger and Alona Boydston hit a sacrifice fly of her own to cut the UConn lead to one.
UConn’s Caprice Bohmer and Butler’s Alyx Johnson settled in after the first inning, with no runs being scored until the fifth.
Calciano’s second hit of the game scored Breslin and Emma Willers to give Connecticut a 6-3 lead. Butler could not respond in the fifth, and the UConn explosion began.
The Huskies hit three home runs in the sixth and scored 10 runs in the inning. Savannah Ring hit a home run to left center, Breslin hit a three-run bomb and Petteys hit her second home run of the game, a two-run shot to make it 16-3. Connecticut also got a two RBI double from Heidi Barder in the sixth.
UConn took advantage of some Butler errors during the inning, with four of the runs in the inning being unearned.
Bohmer’s final statline was 3.2 innings, three runs, four hits, four walks and three strikeouts. Jessica Walter pitched 1.1 innings of relief while Amber Bretton tossed a perfect inning of relief.
The 16-3 victory was the eighth win in a row for a UConn team trying to make a late season push in the Big East standings.
The Huskies got Saturday’s game started the same way Friday’s game did. Petteys drove in Ring for a 1-0 UConn lead after one.
The starting pitchers battled throughout the next few innings. Sydnee Koosh went three shoutout innings for Connecticut while Rylyn Dyer went 5.1 innings for the Bulldogs.
Dyer was coasting through five before running into trouble in the sixth. UConn loaded the bases on Dyer and a walk to Breslin forced in Ring. The next batter was Calciano who continued her stellar weekend. The freshman hit a two-run single up the middle, scoring Petteys and Haley Coupal. The Huskies got their fifth and final run of the game by way of a Butler error from Robards at shortstop which scored Breslin.
Walter pitched the final four innings for UConn, only allowing two hits and striking out four to earn her seventh save of the season. Meanwhile Koosh, who had a 7.29 ERA on March 25, has brought her ERA down to 5.53 after solid outings versus Villanova, Boston College and now Butler during the Huskies hot streak.
Butler struck first on Sunday when Robards laced a two-out double to right-center, scoring Alexander in the first inning. From there on out, it was zeros across the scoreboard until the seventh inning.
Walter and Butler starting pitcher Maren Berger battled through the afternoon with Bohmer coming in for the Huskies in the middle of the game. Berger did not allow an extra base hit through six innings and only one base runner had got past first through six.
The seventh inning was a different story for the Huskies and Bulldogs. It looked like the same story of the day for UConn as Willers grounded out to second and Caylee De Meo lined out to left field to start the frame. Then number nine hitter Barder drew a two-out walk, and it was back to the top of the order for Connecticut.
Kaitlyn Kibling had a quiet weekend so far, but that did not stop her from tripling to rightfield and scoring Barber to tie up the game at one. Berger gave up her only extra base hit with two outs in the seventh, she followed that up with a costly error with Ring at bat, scoring Kibling and giving the Huskies a 2-1 lead.
Kieli Ryan led off Butler’s half of the seventh with a single, but Walter, who returned to the game in the seventh, got two groundouts and a fly out to seal the deal for UConn.
The come from behind win was number 20 on the season for Connecticut as they have thrusted themselves to second in the Big East with 10 straight victories. UConn outscored Butler 21-4 over the course of the weekend. They sit a game behind Providence as a three-game set between the two rivals looms next weekend.
UConn will face Bryant at home on Tuesday before their massive series against the Friars.