No rest for the wicked
UConn baseball plays its first ranked weekend series since 2021.
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UConn baseball gets no break against ranked Auburn
In a typical UConn baseball season, at least since its return to the Big East conference, the Huskies would be pumped up to face a ranked Auburn early in the season.
UConn’s conference doesn’t give it many opportunities to grab Quad 1 series wins, so strong non-conference series are the best opportunities to grab wins to increase its RPI, leading to the chance of an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
But for this year’s iteration of the program, No. 22 Auburn is a tough test for a UConn team coming off a disappointing second weekend. The Huskies were swept at California in three games, and after a successful start to the season, it’s hard to know what to expect in their first ranked weekend series since 2021.
For a second straight week, UConn’s pitching staff will be under the microscope. The season started with the best-case scenario for the position unit, but the series against the Golden Bears was a different story.
Starting pitchers gave up a combined 14 earned runs and 17 hits through 12 1⁄3 innings, and have the potential to be put to the sword again by an active Auburn offense that has five starters slugging over .600 this year and is scoring more than 10 runs per game.
Preseason all-SEC catcher Ike Irish stands to benefit from a struggling UConn pitching staff, looking to boost his .324 average and .618 slugging percentage, while veteran outfielder Bobby Peirce will salivate at the thought of continuing his tremendous early-season performance at the plate.
If UConn’s pitching staff can hold up to this hefty early-season challenge, their offense has shown signs that they’ll be able to keep up. After scoring seven total runs on opening weekend, the lineup started to flex its muscles with 20 runs in three games against California. Although not enough to get any wins in the series, getting their stars’ bats going will be imperative against Auburn. Korey Morton (.393/.393/.643) and Jake Studley (.348/.464/.739) will need to continue their hot starts, while others will will have an opportunity to step up.
Early-season series are unpredictable, but UConn has a lot to figure out in their stern at Auburn, but some hope for the Huskies lies in history: their last series at a ranked opponent in 2021 against Virginia ended in a 2-1 defeat and the Huskies went on to win the Big East regular season title and the conference tournament.
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
Butler, which was 0-2 the first weekend against Florida State, were back on the road but against a much friendlier opponent in Alabama A&M. The Bulldogs swept the series, including a run-ruled game on Saturday. They lost to Southern Illinois in the midweek and will travel to Morehead State this weekend.
Creighton
It was another winning weekend away from Omaha for Creighton. The Bluejays were 2-0 against Coppin State to open the year and played in the Sugar Land Classic this weekend. Creighton got wins over Houston Christian, UIC and UTSA. The team is back in Sugar Land this weekend for the Battle at the Ballpark.
Georgetown
The Hoyas had their first midweek game last Wednesday and secured a win over Navy to get on the board after an 0-3 weekend in the MLB Desert Classic to open 2024. Georgetown also took two of three from VMI this weekend, but lost to Maryland on Tuesday. The Hoyas host Fairleigh Dickinson for three this weekend.
St. John’s
Weather plagued St. John’s, which wasn’t able to follow up its win over No. 3 Florida, as Saturday and Sunday were washed out. The Red Storm were in Houston to face the Cougars and salvaged the series with a win Sunday. St. John’s stayed south and dropped a game to No. 13 Texas on Tuesday, with a weekend series against Sam Houston State scheduled.
Seton Hall
Seton Hall was 2-1 at the Swig and Swine Classic in Greenville, South Carolina to start the year, beating Merrimack and Michigan State. The Pirates couldn’t finish off the sweep against Georgia State this weekend, losing on Sunday. Rob Shepperd’s team opened the midweek slate with a win over Wagner at home on Tuesday and will travel to Florida International this weekend.
Xavier
No. 9 Clemson resoundingly swept Xavier to start 2024, outscoring the Musketeers 33-13. They rebounded in midweek action, beating Lousiville 9-1 on Wednesday, but were uneven against Lipscomb, but took two of three. Xavier took a win in over Cincinnati in the midweek, with a road trip to Florida Gulf Coast for three this weekend on the schedule.
Villanova
The Wildcats secured their first win in 2024 on Sunday, staving off the sweep against Davidson. Incarnate Word did the honors to start the year. A road trip out west to play Loyola Marymount faces Villanova this weekend.
Non-conference opponents
Without a new NCAA Tournament bracket projection, this portion of the newsletter will examine trends among UConn’s non-conference opponents.
The loudest result of the weekend went to LIU, which took a lead into the bottom of the eighth on Friday against Miami (FL), then UConn transfer Noah Sorenson went yard to secure a win on Saturday for the Sharks.
Auburn, this weekend’s foe, started off hot, with a sweep over Eastern Kentucky, midweek wins over UAB and Samford and a 2-1 performance in the Jax College Baseball Classic, facing No. 20 Iowa and No. 11 Virginia.
It’s been less-than-ideal in 2024 for UC Santa Barbara, which lost a series to Campbell and finished 2-1 against Sacramento State. A road trip to Oregon is on tap this weekend before UConn comes to town.
Rutgers has series wins over Winthrop and Old Dominion and Cal Baptist secured two wins over Pepperdine in the first weekend of the season.
No. 24 UCLA went to No. 5 TCU and was swept, as was Rhode Island against Virginia Tech and Columbia against No. 3 Florida, while UC Irvine is undefeated against North Dakota State and Tulane. Boston College has started strong with two winning weekends, while No. 25 Northeastern beat Minnesota in a two-game series and took one game against Arizona.
The Week Ahead
Friday: at Auburn; 7 p.m. ET; SEC Network+
Saturday: at Auburn; 2 p.m. ET; SEC Network+
Sunday: at Auburn; 2 p.m. ET; SEC Network+
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