The sports rivalry between UConn and Boston College goes back to the two schools joining the Big East Conference for the 1979-80 academic year. On Wednesday afternoon, the two rivals will face off for the second time this season, with this one coming at Harrington Athletics Village in Brighton, Mass.
The Huskies (20-17, 6-3 Big East) are coming off a 2-1 series win at Butler last weekend, scoring 16 runs in the final two games of the series. The series-opening loss on Friday was just the second loss in April, the other being a 3-1 loss at home to Creighton.
Connecticut’s pitching was superb throughout the weekend, but no one was more dominant than sophomore left-hander Cayden Suchy. The Sterling, Va. native tossed a complete game, allowing just three hits and zero walks while striking out 11 batters. His performance earned him the Big East Pitcher of the Week honor on Monday.
The Eagles will be playing for the second consecutive day, coming off the Beanpot Championship game against Northeastern on Tuesday night.
The first meeting between UConn and Boston College was one of the longest games in recent memory, lasting four hours and 31 minutes with no extra innings. No one could even imagine the shootout at Elliot Ballpark on March 10. The Huskies scored 19 runs on 19 hits, with six players recording multi-hit games. However, that was not even close to being enough as UConn lost in a football-like score, 26-19.
That was also the first time Tyler Minick made his return to the lineup after missing 12 games with an injury. In the contest, the junior from Reading, Pa. went 3-for-5 with three runs scored and three RBI, including his first home run of the season, a two-run blast.
Nater Wachter was Connecticut’s top offensive player in that game, driving in three runs on four hits. If someone liked to watch a high-scoring college baseball game, they certainly would have loved this game, as nine of the 10 pitchers Jim Penders used in the game allowed runs.
Boston College, behind Georgia Tech and North Carolina in the ACC standings, was led by Nick Wang in that game, with eight RBI off three home runs. His performance marked the first time in 10 years that a Boston College player had hit three home runs in a game, and the eight RBI were the most since recording seven, three years ago. Coming into the week, he led the team in RBI with 43 this season (tied for sixth in ACC) and home runs (12, tied for fifth in ACC).
No one should expect a similar game on Wednesday night, especially when the Eagles come into the week tied for 14th in the ACC in total batting average with Duke (.275). Only Virginia Tech boasts a worse overall batting average (.260) coming into the week.
The Eagles came into the week as the worst home run-hitting team in the conference, with 27 on the season. The next team in line, Virginia Tech, came in with 11 more home runs.
Boston College’s strength remains on the mound, with a combined 4.12 earned-run average coming into the week, which was good for third in the ACC behind North Carolina (3.61) and Georgia Tech (4.11) and No. 21 in the country. It is also difficult to hit home runs off their pitching staff, with just 24 home runs allowed (tied for best in ACC) through the weekend series against Virginia Tech.
UConn is tied for third in the Big East standings with Xavier, behind St. John’s and Creighton. According to Massey Ratings, the Huskies came into the week one spot ahead in the analytical rankings over Creighton for best in the Big East.
Connecticut comes into the game with a 66-47 lead in the overall series, with a 36-26 record at Boston College. Under head coach Todd Interdonato, the Eagles are 4-1 against the Huskies.
Following this mid-week contest, UConn will return home to Storrs, Conn., to host St. John’s in a three-game series.
The first pitch at Boston College is set for 3 p.m. and is available to watch on ACC Network Extra and ESPN+.
Author’s Note: This preview was written before Boston College’s game against Northeastern, which started at 6 p.m. All stats are through Monday.
In which conference did both schools join together in the 1979–80 academic year?