It's report card season
UConn baseball is midway through its year. How is it faring?
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Midterm grades
There are 14 weeks in a college baseball regular season the second half of the year starts this weekend. Thus, we found it fitting to give some midseason grades out for UConn baseball.
Starting Pitching: C-
The rotation right now hardly mirrors how it looked when the season began. Ian Cooke, the Big East Preseason Pitcher of the Year, surrendered at least four earned runs in each of his first four starts, prompting a relegation to the bullpen. Gabe Van Emon struggled just as much and is carrying a 12.75 ERA through seven appearances. The projected No. 2 option entering the season, he has not taken the hill since March 18 against Duke, when he surrendered seven earned runs in 2 1/3 innings pitched.
The Huskies’ current leader in starts, Tommy Ellisen, began his year incredibly on point. Through three starts, his ERA sat at 1.50 — two earned runs in 12 innings — but he gave up four earned runs in each of his next three starts to balloon that number north of 7.00. Ellisen came out of the bullpen for the first time all year Tuesday against Quinnipiac, giving up one earned run in 2/3 of an inning.
Amidst the turmoil from the Huskies’ expected starters, Oliver Pudvar has been a bright spot, surging to take on the ace persona in recent weeks. He leads the team in innings pitched (35) and strikeouts (49), pitching seven full innings in each of his last two starts.
Cayden Suchy (3-3, 5.28) and Sean Finn (2-0, 3.72) both started the year coming out of the bullpen, but have each contributed three starts in recent weeks. Notably, Suchy allowed just two hits, two walks and one unearned run over seven innings March 15 against UNC Greensboro, punching out nine. In his start Tuesday against Quinnipiac, Finn went scoreless over three innings pitched, giving up one hit, two walks and one hit batsmen. Both can be effective options down the stretch.
Bullpen: B
It has taken some time to identify who the major players would be in UConn’s bullpen this season, but the result has been an assortment of strong, late-game contributors. Let’s start with the obvious: Brady Afthim is really, really good. The closer has been on the hook for just one earned run in 18 2/3 innings pitched, good for an ERA of 0.48. He ranks tied for second on the team in strikeouts (28) despite throwing the seventh-most innings of any rostered pitcher. He also has four saves.
This year’s breakout candidate has been right-hander Greg Shaw III. The junior excelled in March, surrendering just three earned in 15 innings pitched all month. In his best outing, he threw four scoreless innings March 15 against Campbell, striking out five hitters and allowing just one walk and hit apiece. He has made a team-high 13 appearances so far this season and posted an admirable 3.13 ERA.
Right-hander Jude Abbadessa was used repeatedly in the early going of the season but has seen his workload shrink in recent weeks. He did not allow an earned run through his first seven appearances, and carries a 3.52 ERA through 7 2/3 innings pitched.
The team’s left-handed options have been a bit of a hodgepodge. Sophomore Charlie West has excelled, while Sam Hutchinson and JT Caruso have teetered back and forth. Evan Hamberger has been tagged for multiple earned runs at a time more often than not.
Those who have flip-flopped between starters and the bullpen — Cooke, Suchy and Finn — have all seemed to find the right fit. Cooke’s last two outings out of the bullpen have looked promising, as he has not allowed an earned run through 7 1/3 innings, striking out 12. He lowered his ERA under double-digits (9.00) for the first time all season last Saturday against Xavier.
Infield: B+
The infield took shape opening weekend in Puerto Rico and has stayed relatively the same all season long. Be it that continuity or something else, but this position group has played some of the most productive baseball for UConn all season long.
Tyler Minick had to wait a bit longer to start his season, suffering a broken orbital bone, but has since emerged as UConn’s best hitter — to no surprise. He leads all qualified hitters in batting average (.348), hits (32), home runs (eight) and RBI (28), though he does have six errors.
Up the middle, Rob Rispoli has steadily handled the majority of the workload as the infield’s captain. He has made 23 starts, hitting .273/.333/.394. His speed has paid dividends on the bases, as he’s swiped nine bags on 12 tries, the second most on the team. Ryan Daniels has played mostly second base but has also spent time in right field, hitting .342/.443/.582. Behind Minick, he has the most extra base hits (10) and RBI (24) on the team. Utilityman Bryan Padilla has kept in the mix, but struggled this year in comparison to his career norms. A .276/.370/.435 hitter through four years, his slash-line reads just .247/.320/.341 in 24 starts in 2025. In addition, he’s made six errors between his time at second and third base, tied with Minick for the team lead.
Grant MacArthur is the only Husky to start every game so far this season, and he has rewarded head coach Jim Penders graciously. His slash line reads .309/.426/.454, leading the team in walks (16) but also strikeouts (25). Catching responsibilities have been split evenly between Matt Garbowski (14 starts) and Connor Lane (13 starts). Garbowski, a left-handed hitter, has played predominantly against right-handed pitching — vice versa with Lane, though neither have hit especially well to start the season.
Outfield: C
Unlike the infield, the outfield has seen some volatility early in the season. The only player exempt is Caleb Shpur, who has been exactly as advertised. He’s hitting .260 — he hit .265 in 56 games last season — has played stellar defense and leads the team in stolen bases with 16.
Behind Shpur has been a mixed bag. Sam Biller has the second-most starts in the outfield but has been shaky with the bat. His .232 average has dipped almost 30 points from his three-year average at Loyola Marymount (.259). The utility transfer Aidan Dougherty (.263/.368/.298) and Anthony Belisario (.273/.333/.394) have seen time, while Beau Root (.340/.385/.426) has come on strong as of late.
Root had a four-hit game against UNC on March 19, then two days later had a three-hit games against UNC Greensboro. Two days later, he had three hits again. His batting average rose as high as .526, but has since dropped to .340 with more consistent playing time. Carter Groen, who has only made five starts and appeared in seven games, has hit .313 in limited playtime.
Around the Big East
Until RPI is viable, which comes in mid-April, this space will take a look at what each Big East team has been doing in the early part of the season.
Butler
The Bulldogs has a productive weekend, taking three of four from Northern Illinois. However, Eastern Illinois took a midweek game off Butler on Tuesday. Xavier will welcome in the Bulldogs for a three-game set.
Creighton
The current standard-bearers in the conference were able to win a series at Samford over the weekend and kept it rolling with a midweek victory at in-state Nebraska. Somewhere in middle America, UConn and Creighton will play three games this weekend.
Georgetown
Georgetown didn’t play a midweek game this week after hosting UMBC over the weekend. The Hoyas fell twice in one-run games to start the series, but blew out the Retrievers on Sunday. A road trip to Villanova is on the docket this weekend.
St. John’s
The Red Storm had a weekend off, but took advantage of Washington’s series with Rutgers to play an unorthodox midweek game with plenty of fireworks, as the Huskies won, 22-14. Seton Hall will make its way to Queens to open Big East play.
Seton Hall
Marist was in South Orange this weekend and went back to New York with a series victory over the Pirates. Seton Hall rebounded with a run-rule win over Princeton on Wednesday. It’s a short road trip this weekend, as it heads to St. John’s.
Xavier
Xavier followed up its series win over the Huskies with a win over Wright State to move above .500 this season. The Musketeers will host Butler this weekend.
Villanova
The Wildcats are 4-2 in their last six after taking two of three from LIU over the weekend, but they did suffer an 11-1 setback to Rider on Tuesday. Big East play is next for Villanova, as Georgetown comes to town.
Bracketology
Baseball America
Creighton remains the projected Big East champion in Baseball America’s projection and the Huskies remain out of the field. They’ve had games against No. 11 North Carolina and No. 16 Vanderbilt, as well as 2-seeds Duke and UCLA and 3-seeds Northeastern and USC. Boston College is part of the Next Four Out.
D1Baseball
D1Baseball diverges from Baseball America in its first midseason field of 64. On the back of its strong RPI, Xavier is in the Big East’s auto-bid spot. UConn is out of the field here, as well. It’s faced off in single games against No. 6 UCLA and No. 10 North Carolina, 2-seed Vanderbilt, 3-seeds Duke and USC and 4-seed Northeastern.
The Week Ahead
Friday: at Creighton; 7 p.m. ET; FloSports
Saturday: at Creighton; 3 p.m. ET; FloSports
Sunday: at Creighton; 1 p.m. ET; FloSports
Tuesday: Bryant; 3:05 p.m. ET; UConn+
Wednesday: Hofstra; 3:05 p.m. ET; UConn+
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