In a battle for first place in the Big East conference, the UConn baseball team will face rival opponent St. John’s in a three-game series this weekend at Elliot Ballpark. The series will be played on Friday, April 17, Saturday, April 18 and conclude on Sunday, April 19 in Storrs, Conn.
In historical matchups, UConn has the advantage of a 72-61 record over St. John’s. Their last matchup took place on May 22, 2025, at the Big East Tournament in Ohio where the Huskies defeated the Red Storm 13-3 to advance to the conference championship.
UConn is entering the weekend with a 20-18 overall record and 6-3 (third place) in Big East play. Sophomore Jackson Marshall leads the Huskies offense with a .362 batting average with 10 home runs and 33 RBIs. Cam Righi is close behind with a .356 batting average with eight home runs and 33 RBIs. UConn’s midweek matchup at Boston College ended in a loss, but a decent effort was seen from the Huskies. Sophomore Peyton Jemison, Marshall and Righi all added offense for UConn, especially in a fifth inning rally, but they were unable to recover from a three-run seventh inning from Boston College.
Sophomore Frank Spirito (1.2 IP) and freshman Drew Smith (1.1 IP) had promising performances on the mound with scoreless outings. Senior Evan Hamberger also retired the single batter that he faced. Despite a solid performance on both offense and defense, the Huskies dropped their lone matchup to the Eagles and will now look ahead to the weekend against St. John’s.
As for the Red Storm, they are entering this series with a 18-18 overall record and 5-1 (first place) in conference action. St. John’s is coming off a midweek matchup 10-7 win over Hofstra at home. This week, St. John’s had players who landed spots on the Big East honor roll. Junior LHP Evan Chaffee and sophomore C/1B Adam Agresti were recognized by the conference for their week’s performance. In his ninth start of the season, Chaffee earned the 9-0 win for St. John’s over Georgetown, his third victory of the year. The pitcher tossed 6.0 scoreless innings, allowing five hits and striking out eight batters for the second straight start. Boasting a 4.47 ERA, Chaffee leads the Red Storm’s pitching staff with 44 strikeouts, which also ranks seventh in the Big East.
Agresti has been an offensive powerhouse for St. John’s. Last weekend against Georgetown, the catcher batted .500 over the series with four doubles and launched his 13th home run of the season, which ranks second in the conference, while driving in five runs. In his best game of the series on Saturday during the Red Storm’s shutout over the Hoyas, Agresti went 2-for-2 with a pair of doubles and three walks.
Agresti has been a threat at the plate all season for the Red Storm, leading the team with a .331 batting average. He has an OPS of 1.198 and leads the Big East conference with 37 RBIs, while ranking third on his team with 40 hits. The Huskies will surely have to keep an eye out for Agresti at bat this weekend in the conference battle.
The Big East series between UConn and St. John’s will commence on Friday, April 17, with first pitch scheduled for 6:05 p.m., then continue on Saturday, April 18 at 2:05 p.m. and conclude on Sunday, April 19 at 1:05 p.m. at Elliott Ballpark. All games will be available to stream on ESPN+ as well as on the radio at 1410 AM and 100.9 FM WPOP.