UConn Baseball Weekly: Survival in the Desert
The Huskies won three out of four against Arizona to reverse a rough start to the season.
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Finding Ways to Win
After starting the season 0-4, UConn baseball salvaged its road trip out west by winning three out of four against Arizona, taking the first two before a one-run loss on Saturday and an 11-2 triumph on Sunday.
Now at 3-5 overall, UConn has taken a few different paths to victory. The winning formula against the Wildcats differed by the day, as the series included a shutout, a blowout, and an extra-innings thriller.
Let’s recap…
The season’s first win was hard-earned, coming after 12 rounds on Thursday night.
At the top of that deciding inning, Jackson Marshall laced an RBI single up the middle to put the Huskies ahead, and Maddix Dalena added a pair of insurance runs on a bloop single to center field. The Wildcats got one back in the bottom of the frame, but the Huskies got the final outs to secure that much-needed win.
Marshall was the engine in UConn’s offense all series, putting a forgettable weekend at the MLB Desert Invitational behind him. The SNHU transfer recorded at least one hit and one RBI in each of the four games vs. Arizona and homered in the Huskies’ loss to ASU.
At 6-foot-8, this guy is a special talent.
Impressive pitching performances bookended the win. Charlie Hale twirled 5 2/3 innings of one-run ball to start, punching out seven. Greg Shaw III took the mound in the seventh and allowed just four baserunners in five innings of work to lock down the win.
Marshall and Dalena’s hot bats carried into Friday, as the Huskies blanked the Wildcats 4-0 for their first shutout victory since April 2024. Dalena knocked in three runs without recording a hit: a sac fly, a bases-loaded walk, and a fielder’s choice.
The weekend’s lone blemish came on Saturday. Marshall stayed hot while outfielders Chris Polemeni and Chase Taylor recorded multi-hit games, but UConn surrendered three runs in the eighth en route to defeat. Cayden Suchy struck out five over 6 2/3 frames, one-third of an inning shy of his career high.
The Huskies faced a 2-0 deficit early after the Wildcats scored a pair in the first, but two RBI doubles gave them a lead. Evan Menzel doubled in a pair in the fifth to tie it, while Polemeni doubled deep to center to give the Huskies a 3-2 lead.
The bullpen let them down in this one, as Rob Gilchrist and Garret Garbinski allowed a combined three runs in the bottom of the eighth to give the lead right back to Arizona.
Marshall hit his second home run of the season, a moonshot to left to bring the Huskies within one, but UConn stranded a pair of runners on the corners to come up short on a second comeback.
The Huskies rebounded on Sunday with an 11-2 blowout win to clinch the series. Nate Wachter hit his first home run as a Husky, pacing the offense alongside Gabriel Tirado. Delivering a shot of life to what has been rather pedestrian play at the catcher position to start the year, Tirado reached base a career-high five times, doubling twice and walking three times.
Oliver Pudvar had a much better outing in his second start and third appearance of the season, giving the Huskies five-plus innings of two-run ball en route to the first win of his redshirt-junior season.
Photo: UConn Athletics
Takeaways
While Arizona has gotten off to a rough start in 2026, it placed second in the Big 12 preseason poll and was ranked No. 23 in the NCBWA Division One Preseason Top 25. Taking three out of four is an impressive feat for UConn, regardless of the Wildcats’ poor form to start the year.
Despite preseason All-Big East team member Tyler Minick missing the entire weekend, the Husky offense showed vast improvement over the first few contests of the season. UConn put up at least four runs in each game and smashed eleven extra-base hits across the weekend.
The Huskies also showed impressive plate discipline, working 24 walks over the course of the weekend.
However, UConn also left 45 batters stranded on base, including leaving the bases loaded twice in game two. Still, consistent baserunners is a sign of an offense on the verge of a breakout, like we saw Sunday. Slightly better hitting with RISP could go a long way for their production.
The first three wins of the season clued us in on head coach Jim Penders’ leanings to close out games on the mound. Preseason All-Big East selection Sean Finn picked up his first two saves of the season on Thursday and Sunday, while graduate student and former Brown University starter Paxton Meyers picked up a bulk save on Friday. Following Brady Afthim’s departure from the program, the closer role was a mystery to start the year. Perhaps now Penders has his answer.
Weekend Winners
Maddix Dalena- Dalena finds himself on the list for the second straight week after picking up even more steam over the weekend. The lefty slugger went 4 for 15 on the weekend and brought six runs in. His best game came in the Huskies’ first win, going 3-5 with three RBIs, a double, and a walk.
Jackson Marshall — The six-foot-eight slugger had a huge weekend, batting .444 and driving in five runs. The sophomore had at least one RBI in each contest as UConn’s most consistent offensive factor.
Pitching Rotation — Over the four games against Arizona, the UConn rotation allowed just five runs across 24.1 innings. That translates to a 1.85 ERA. The best start from the group came from staff ace Charlie West, who spun six-plus shutout innings in the second win of the series, striking out nine Wildcats in the process. Charlie Hale, Cayden Suchy, and Oliver Pudvar all allowed two or fewer earned runs with at least five innings pitched.
Greg Shaw — Shaw’s five-inning relief appearance in game one supported a temporarily lackluster Husky offense that put up five straight zeroes in the box score until winning it in the twelfth. In his third appearance of the season, Shaw punched out four batters while inducing five groundouts and not allowing a single free pass. The righty is quickly positioning himself as one of Jim Penders’ most trusted arms out of the bullpen.
Chris Polemeni — Polemeni went 0-2 in game one and got the night off on Friday, but the redshirt-junior exploded on Saturday for a 3-4 night and an RBI. He added another hit on Sunday. The outfielder is batting .313 on the season and is quickly working his way into a key role in an outfield mix that was largely unsettled entering the weekend.
Around the Big East
We strayed from this last week, but figured now is a good time to check in with the rest of the conference. If you’ll recall, the Big East was a one-bid league last year, with Creighton entering the field as the automatic qualifier.
The Huskies just edged out the Blue Jays in the 2026 coaches’ preseason poll, capturing five first-place votes to Creighton’s three:
Through two weekends, the conference has struggled as a whole. The Huskies don’t open Big East play until March 27, with lots of non-conference fun to be had until then. Their first game in Storrs is on March 3rd against New Haven.
Butler (2-6) — The Bulldogs opened their season with four against UT Martin, winning the first and losing the next two before the third was canceled. They split two midweek games against Illinois and Eastern Illinois before getting swept by Murray State. Butler will look to bounce back against Marshall this weekend.
Creighton (2-4) — The reigning conference champs took two of three to start the year on the road at Saint Mary’s. This past weekend at the Tony Gwynn Tournament, the Blue Jays lost all three against Utah, San Diego, and UC San Diego. The Toreros needed just seven innings to claim their win, mercy-ruling Creighton 15-5. It’s the REV Texas Tournament on deck this weekend.
Georgetown (5-3) — One of two teams over .500 thus far, the Hoyas turned a 1-3 start into 5-3 with a sweep this weekend over Saint Peter’s of the MAAC. A midweek matchup with the University of Maryland Baltimore County awaits, followed by three this weekend against FDU.
St. John’s (1-6) — The Johnnies posted six losses between their lone win over Stetson. Just as Arizona State did to UConn, the Sun Devils beat up on St. John’s, outscoring the Red Storm 28-8 in the sweep. Their schedule won’t lighten up anytime soon, set for three with Kentucky this weekend.
Seton Hall (3-2) — Seton Hall saw UConn get pummeled in the Puerto Rico Challenge last year and decided to run the gauntlet itself. The Pirates took a loss against Boston College, then a win over Manhattan, and rounded out with a cancellation before returning stateside. At the Swig and Swine Classic this weekend, Seton Hall beat George Mason and Merrimack, losing to George Mason following a cancellation against Ball State.
Villanova (2-3) — The Wildcats semi-salvaged a series loss to FIU to open the year with a weekend split at Lipscomb. A Florida leg awaits Villanova, who play three against FAU this weekend, followed by Florida A&M the weekend after.
Xavier (2-5) — A promising series win to open the year led to five straight losses for Xavier. The Musketeers took two over American Conference favorite East Carolina before dropping the third, followed by a 23-11 drubbing by Louisville in the midweek and a sweep at the hands of Arkansas. Indiana awaits on Wednesday, as does Cal State Fullerton, for three games this weekend.
Photo: UConn Athletics
On Deck
The Huskies have the middle of the week off before heading back on the road this weekend for a three-game set against UNC Wilmington (4-3).
Friday 2/27: at UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Wilmington, NC, 4 p.m. ET, FloCollege
Saturday 2/28: at UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Wilmington, NC, 4 p.m. ET, FloCollege
Sunday 3/1: at UNC Wilmington Seahawks, Wilmington, NC, 1 p.m. ET, FloCollege
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