The UConn baseball team’s offense is red-hot.
Including a 10-0 run-rule win over St. John’s on April 18, the Huskies (24-20, 10-5 Big East) have scored at least nine runs since. That includes a combined 36 runs in the first two games of the weekend series at Georgetown (22-22, 4-8 Big East) as Connecticut swept the Hoyas to extend the winning streak to a season-best five games.
Third baseman Maddix Dalena led the way in the series-opener with a four-hit, two-homer performance that included a career-high nine runs batted in. He became the first Husky since Paul Tammaro to drive in nine runs in a game, with the latter accomplishing the feat in a win over St. John’s on April 14, 2024.
“I was so happy for Maddix,” head coach Jim Penders said in a postgame interview on Friday.
Before the opener, Connecticut had only hit one home run in the previous nine games. In the series-opener, the Huskies hit five homers and finished with a 14-2 win.
Left-handed pitcher Charlie West started for UConn and earned his fourth victory of the season with 13 strikeouts in eight innings. The junior from South Setauket, N.Y. has been on fire on the mound with 37 strikeouts in 22.2 innings in his last three starts.
“Charlie West did a super job with the bats,” Penders said.
Saturday’s series-clincher was even more lopsided than the first.
The Huskies set a new season high for runs scored with 22, one better than the 21 scored at Northeastern on March 31.
Connecticut’s 22-4 rout over Georgetown was highlighted by a season-best 10-run fourth inning in which the first 13 batters of the inning reached base.
First baseman Jackson Marshall, who extended his hit streak to 19 games through the series finale on Sunday, had the swing of the inning with the Huskies’ first grand slam of the season for a 10-0 cushion.
Right fielder Nater Wachter instantly provided more fireworks as he hit a solo shot right after Marshall. This would happen again as Marshall hit a three-run home run in the fifth inning, and Wachter would follow with a home run of his own.
Second baseman Peyton Jemison hit his second home run of the season and made the Hoyas’ pitchers pay as he went 4-for-4 with a pair of doubles, three runs batted in and five runs scored in addition to his home run.
“I thought he played with a little bit more confidence this weekend,” Penders noted on Sunday.
The offense did not stop there as left fielder Cam Righi and center fielder Anthony Belisario both registered three-hit games, the latter of the two having four multi-hit games in his last five games. Catcher Chris Cancel had a career day with three runs batted in.
Pitcher Cayden Suchy, now 4-1 on the season, earned the win after pitching five innings before handing the ball to the bullpen as Austin Trumpour, Rob Gilchrist and Kyle Peters held their own on the mound to close out the win.
“I wanted to get him through five, get the W and then get out,” Penders said on Saturday.
Rispoli, who hit his first home run of the season on Friday, was clutch for the Huskies in the series finale as he was the only Husky to record multiple hits.
The second of those hits was a massive one, as Rispoli hit a single with two outs in the top of the seventh inning to give UConn a 3-2 lead.
“Really happy for Rob Rispoli,” Penders said. “Our captains had a nice, nice weekend…Nice to see him kind of be the hero.”
Starting pitcher Oliver Pudvar earned his fifth win of the season while striking out three batters in seven innings. It was not his most impressive outing as he allowed both of Georgetown’s runs and four hits, butboth were unearned runs that came with Travis Ilitch at the plate.
Reliever Charlie Hale came in and provided two innings of relief to close out the Huskies’ first sweep of the season.
“Charlie Hale hadn’t pitched in a little bit and [he] did a really nice job closing it down,” Penders said.
UConn now improves to 63-23 all-time against Georgetown, with the last loss coming in the Big East Tournament on May 23, 2024. The Hoyas have not been able to beat Connecticut on their home field since a three-game sweep in late May 2022.
The Huskies will remain on the road as they take a trip to Piscataway, N.J. to take on old Big East foe Rutgers on Tuesday.