Under the hood of UConn's 10-game win streak
The Huskies haven't lost since April 9, but it isn't yet enough to prove they're a contender at the national level.
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Behind the midseason surge and what it means moving forward
A 12-5 win over Army on Wednesday night punctuated a 10-game win streak in April that propelled the UConn Huskies from three games under .500 to six games over. UConn broke out the brooms against Georgetown and Seton Hall and handed nonconference losses to Hofstra, Boston College and UMass, alongside Army.
UConn is outscoring opponents 97-41 in that span, averaging nearly 10 runs per game and enacting the run-rule twice. The Huskies have played flashy baseball this month, but is the streak really as impressive as what meets the eye?
The following is the RPI rank and record of each team UConn has beaten on its win streak through April 23:
Hofstra (13-28): No. 219
Georgetown (13-27): No. 256
Boston College (21-20): No. 49
Seton Hall (15-26): No. 197
UMass (11-23-1): No. 227
Army (19-20): No. 213
Aside from Boston College — which also handed UConn an 18-6 run-rule thrashing in late March — no other team the Huskies have beaten in their last 10 games possesses at least a .500 record or an RPI ranking within the top 200.
The real test for UConn is still ahead. With 15 games to play, the upcoming weekend series against St. John’s, current RPI No. 70, in Queens, New York, could be an indicator of whether the Huskies will be pretenders or contenders come the season’s end. Out-of-conference games against Rutgers, Rhode Island and Northeastern can be gauge of that as well, but midweek contests are often a test of depth, particularly with pitching. Here are the RPI rankings of each team UConn will play following the St. John’s series this weekend.
Rutgers (18-23): No. 98
Rhode Island (26-15): No. 98
Northeastern (30-9): No. 34
Villanova (20-17): No. 158
Butler (14-26): No. 272
Maine (16-21): No. 178
After the St. John’s series, it is likely UConn plays just three games the remainder of the year against near top-100 teams, with the Northeastern rematch serving as the most consequential. UConn has beat up on lesser teams and will have a chance to do that once more in its nine combined games against Villanova, Butler and Maine. St. John’s will be a trial chamber of what is to come for the Huskies. How seriously they will be regarded on the national level will be a reflection of their success in the season’s final third.
RPI Update
UConn is No. 45 in the RPI heading into this weekend’s battle with St. John’s, after sitting at No. 46 at this time last week.
This is a big one for the Huskies, as it represents the final weekend opportunity to gain significant ground in the RPI and for a team that’s on the NCAA bubble, prove its worth against a solid Red Storm team. They’re No. 70 in the RPI and as of the start of play on Thursday, these games are three of four Quad 2 games on the schedule, with the fourth coming in the midweek against Northeastern.
UConn doesn’t have any Quad 1 games left and have five Quad 3 and six Quad 4 contests to go. These 11 games will provide minimal RPI points for wins and any loss would result in a big drop. The Huskies will need to rack up the victories to keep in the back half of the top 50. UConn’s record against Quads 1 and 2, which is a matching 6-7 each, is NCAA Tournament worthy, but a weak Big East finish, or a bunch of Quad 3 and 4 losses, will undermine that case.
Bracketology
Baseball America
UConn is back on the board, but remains out of the field. The Huskies are the fourth team out of Baseball America’s bracket, which includes Xavier winning a one-bid Big East. Jim Penders’ team has faced No. 6 North Carolina, No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 14 UCLA in single games, as well as 3-seeds Duke, Northeastern and USC. 3-seed Miami (FL) and 4-seed Maine are on the docket as a weekend foe.
D1Baseball
D1Baseball.com is historically a bit more bullish on the Huskies and they’re the second-to-last team in the field, sitting as a 3-seed in No. 9 North Carolina’s Chapel Hill Regional. The Tar Heels fell to the Huskies in March and will also host 2-seed Kentucky and 4-seed High Point. UConn is an at-large team and Xavier is projected to win the conference.
No. 8 Vanderbilt and No. 15 UCLA also played the Huskies and are hosts. They’re joined by 3-seeds Duke, Northeastern and USC. UConn played 3-seed Miami (FL) in a weekend series and will do so with 4-seed Maine to finish the regular season.
The Week Ahead
Friday: at St. John’s; 3 p.m.; FloSports
Saturday: at St. John’s; 1 p.m.; FloSports
Sunday: at St. John’s; 1 p.m.; FloSports
Tuesday: vs. Rutgers; 5:05 p.m.; CBS Sports Network
Wednesday: vs. Rhode Island; 6:05 p.m.; UConn+
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