UConn baseball's not-so-sunny California weekend
The Huskies remain .500 after two weekends
UConn baseball’s season is two weeks old, and we’re still not too much closer to understanding the team than we were before the season started.
After splitting their opening series of the season against Ohio State in Florida, the Huskies took a road trip to Berkeley, California to take on Cal Poly and Cal in three games. They won a wild game Friday night, defeating Cal Poly 11-10 in extra inning and lost 4-2 the next day against Cal, before decidedly un-Californian weather canceled the final game of the weekend in the middle of the third inning.
One pattern that has emerged from the Huskies’ early-season series is their slow starts. Their opponents have scored first in four out of their first six games this season and both games this weekend.
“We’re just not setting the tone. We’re not setting the tone from the mound or on the first time around the order,” head coach Jim Penders said.
UConn was able to get away with its slow start on Friday in the thrilling extra-innings win, but failed to make the same big comeback on Saturday despite an attempt in the latter half of the game.
According to Penders, strikeouts and bad at-bats are the main cause of UConn’s early game struggles: The first time through the order, Husky hitters struck out eight times over the course of the weekend.
“It’s kind of an epidemic now, the first time around the order we’re having our worst at-bats and I feel like we’re kind of tiptoeing in,” Penders said after the 4-2 loss on Saturday.
To avoid being “on our heels early,” as Penders put it, UConn will have to find stability in its pitching staff as well. UConn starters allowed 11 hits and eight earned runs in 9 1/3 innings of work, and when combined with their early struggles at the plate, this forced the Huskies to play catchup all weekend.
“We gotta be aggressors early, have better at-bats early and have better pitching early,” Penders said. “We’ve been on our heels the last couple times out here.”
Odds and Ends
While UConn baseball’s offensive performance might have been inconsistent overall, junior outfielder Korey Morton remained a picture of consistency, finishing the weekend 4-for-9 with two doubles, a home run and two runs batted in.
After a shaky start against Ohio State, Stephen Quigley shone in his appearance out of the bullpen against Cal on Saturday, spinning 3 2/3 innings of shutout ball, allowing just one hit, no walks and striking out four. Quigley typically pitches to contact and was able to do a great job of that on Saturday, drawing weak contact through his outing.
UConn baseball stuck around to see the sights in San Francisco after Sunday’s game was rained out in the early innings, but it was back to work this week before another road trip, this time to Boca Raton, Florida to take on Florida Atlantic in a three-game set. After that, the Huskies will host their first game of the season at Elliot Ballpark March 7, at 3:05 p.m. against Hartford.
Around the Big East
Butler
Friday: Campbell 9, Butler 4
Saturday: Campbell 25, Butler 6
Sunday: Campbell 10, Butler 9
Creighton
Friday: Coastal Carolina 14, Creighton 12
Saturday: Coastal Carolina 14, Creighton 5
Sunday: Creighton 10, Coastal Carolina 5
Georgetown
Friday: Georgetown 3, Iona 0
Saturday: Georgetown 11, UNC Wilmington 0
Sunday: Georgetown 13, Iona 2; UNC Wilmington 9, Georgetown 3
St. John’s
Friday: St. John’s 6, Tulane 5
Saturday: St. John’s 7, Tulane 3
Sunday: Tulane 9, St. John’s 3
Seton Hall
Friday: Northwestern State 6, Seton Hall 1
Saturday: Seton Hall 7, Houston Christian 4
Sunday: Seton Hall 9, New Mexico State 3
Villanova
Friday: Villanova 2, North Florida 1
Saturday: North Florida 13, Villanova 11
Sunday: North Florida 9, Villanova 7
Xavier
Friday: Xavier 9, Western Carolina 4
Saturday: Xavier 15, Western Carolina 3
Sunday: Xavier 15, Western Carolina 3