Defensive wizardry helped put UConn into its third Super Regional
Paul Tammaro was exceptional with the glove, but the rest of the Huskies had highlights, too.
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UConn baseball won the Norman Regional with the leather
Fielding percentage isn’t the best judge of a team’s defensive prowess. It only measures errors as a share of total defensive chances, which is putouts and assists. As long as a player doesn’t make any fielding miscues and has accurate throws, they’re going to have a high fielding percentage, regardless of their range or ability to read balls off the bat. However, it doesn’t count for nothing, particularly when more advanced defensive stats in college are difficult to find, and UConn is No. 25 in the country with 43 errors in 59 games. The Huskies showed that is not a hollow ranking in the Norman Regional.
Paul Tammaro led the way with highlight-reel play after play, but others got in on the fun flashing the leather from the first pitch on Friday to the last Oklahoma batter retired on Monday. Even up 7-0 in the eighth in the final contest, Korey Morton made a leaping grab up against the wall in left field on a ball tailing away from him.
Tammaro set the tone from the first game against Duke on Friday. In a 1-1 game in the third, the shortstop made a diving play to his left, the first of four times he was featured on his team’s Twitter account for his exploits with the glove.
“It’s insane,” starting pitcher Ian Cooke said. “[Tammaro] made four SportsCenter Top 10 catches.”
He wasn’t the only one. Bryan Padilla made a pair of nice, sliding plays to turn sure hits into outs. Ryan Hyde threw out a runner trying to steal a base. Overall, the Huskies turned five double plays in the four games, two of which were reviewed and overturned.
Even when runners were on base, double plays are rally killers and the Huskies were able to help out their pitchers. Opposing teams scored just nine runs, despite striking out just 16 times in four games. Nine of those punchouts came in the opener against Duke. That’s a ton of balls in play and opposing hitters were just .229 (30-for-131).
“They were fantastic. I heard from so many folks that I trust in baseball,” head coach Jim Penders said. “It was like a symphony watching your defense work. They’re all working together and they were all playing fast.”
UConn’s offense wasn’t much better than its opponents, plating just 19 runs across the four games, with a .248 average (33-for-133). The pitching wasn’t overpowering and the offense didn’t score a ton of runs, but the defense did what it needed to do and then some, putting the Huskies in their third Super Regional.
Regional Wrap-up
UConn finished with a 6-5 regular season record against seven of the 63 other teams in the NCAA Tournament.
St. John’s was a 3-seed in the Charlottesville Regional, hosted by No. 12 Virginia. The Red Storm got an elimination game win against Penn, but Mississippi State won two contests by a combined score of 18-7 to end their season.
No. 10 NC State hosted the Raleigh Regional and 4-seed Bryant. The Bulldogs went 0-2, falling to the Wolfpack and James Madison, scoring just three runs.
Indiana State, a 2-seed, made the Lexington Regional final out of the losers’ bracket following an opening loss to Illinois, but No. 1 Kentucky shut out the Sycamores in the final to move on and host a Super Regional.
The lone team to win a Regional was 3-seed Kansas State, which conquered the Fayetteville Regional, hosted by No. 5 Arkansas. The Wildcats had the unique path of finishing 3-0 and facing each of the other three teams in the Regional, averaging 11 runs per game in the process. They’re heading to No. 12 Virginia and the Charlottesville Super Regional.
LIU was sent to Chapel Hill and pushed No. 4 North Carolina to the brink in the opener, but the Tar Heels walked it off. The Sharks couldn’t hold off Wofford in the elimination game to finish 0-2.
The ride for UC Irvine, the 2-seed in the Corvallis Regional, ended with a loss to No. 15 Oregon State. The weather in coastal Oregon didn’t cooperate, suspending the regional final. It was completed on Monday with the Beavers on top.
No. 14 UC Santa Barbara hosted a Regional and couldn’t solve Oregon, losing to the Ducks twice. Even in wins, the Gauchos didn’t separate themselves, which was common for the Regional, as no game as decided by more than three runs.
The Week Ahead
Friday: at No. 8 Florida State; 12 p.m.; ESPN
Saturday: at No. 8 Florida State; 11 a.m.; ESPN
Sunday: at No. 8 Florida State; 12 p.m.; ESPN2 (if necessary)
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