What's up with the starting pitching?
Expected to be a strength, UConn hasn't gotten much from its staff in an eerily similar pattern to last season.
Thank you for being a subscriber to the Hook C Baseball newsletter.
This weekly newsletter is brought to you by the folks who run The UConn Blog on SB Nation and the UConn WBB Weekly, UConn Hockey Hub, UConn Fast Break and Husky Football Forum newsletters! Please consider sharing or supporting our work!
Starting pitching woes
Between reigning Big East pitcher of the year Ian Cooke, Gabe Van Emon and a litany of other options to finish out the weekend rotation, UConn’s starting pitching was expected to be a strength of a team that was lurking just outside the top 25 in most preseason polls. However, the arms as a whole have disappointed, as opposing offenses are averaging 10.2 runs per game and have scored fewer than six runs just twice.
Part of this has been due to the starters not getting it done in the early going. Sunday starter Thomas Ellisen (0-1, 3.00) has by far the best numbers, but has pitched just six innings. Only two times have Husky starters even pitched into the fifth inning and neither of them completed it. Friday starter Van Emon (0-0, 9.00) hasn’t been able to set the tone for the weekend, as he hasn’t been able to record nine outs in either of his outings.
Control has been an issue for the Endicott transfer, as he’s walked five batters, hit two more and thrown a wild pitch in five innings of work this year. He was hit around on Opening Day against Penn State, leading to his short stint on the mound, but against Florida Atlantic, it seemed to be purely control-based. He had dealt with some traffic, but had yet to surrender a run and was lifted after walking the leadoff hitter in the third.
This has placed tremendous strain on the bullpen, as Oliver Pudvar leads his team in innings and Greg Shaw III has both Cooke and Van Emon beat, despite coming out of the bullpen. Sixteen pitchers have already appeared in a game for the Huskies after 18 arms recorded at least one out all of last season.
Cooke (0-2, 16.88) seems to be following last year’s template. While he owns his team’s longest start this year, at 4 1/3 innings, he got just three outs in his start against the Owls, setting off Saturday’s slugfest. He was the 2024 preseason pitcher of the year and after a gem against Louisville to start the year, struggled and ceded his spot in the rotation to Van Emon, with an ERA above 9.00 in late March.
However, when Van Emon imploded against Xavier on April 5, he gave 5 1/3 shutout innings in relief to save the bullpen and did the same over 7 2/3 frames the next week against St. John’s to take back his spot. From there, he was outstanding and earned conference pitcher of the year honors. The Huskies will need Cooke to capture some of that magic as the season wears on.
The offense has been doing what it needs to do, with a .309/.386/.477 slash line, scoring 7.5 runs per game. While that’s inflated somewhat by the 17-run outburst against Florida Atlantic on Saturday, the Huskies have reached the five-run plateau all but once this year. That should be enough to have more than one victory and the pitching will need to hold up its end of the bargain.
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
It was a much better weekend for the Bulldogs in Week 2, as Butler took two from Norfolk State by a combined 26-7. Sunday’s finale, as well as Tuesday’s home opener against Bowling Green, were canceled due to weather. Louisville also took the win in a midweek battle. A trip to Ohio is on tap for this weekend, as well as a midweek battle against Miami (OH).
Creighton
Weather was a theme, as Creighton was unable to complete its four-game set with Portland. However, in three tightly-contested games, the Bluejays finished 2-1. It’s back out on the road this weekend, with three against College of Charleston next on the schedule.
Georgetown
The Hoyas were unaffected by weather, but used all their runs in Friday’s 13-1 win over Sacred Heart, scoring seven the rest of the weekend, dropping a series to the Pioneers. The offense perked up against George Washington in the midweek, but the Hoyas still took the loss. No. 5 Florida State will host Georgetown this weekend, while Coppin State looms on Tuesday in the midweek.
St. John’s
Unlike UConn, St. John’s was unable to stave off the sweep, though this one came at the hands of a much more difficult opponent in No. 15 Wake Forest. The Red Storm have three at Louisville this weekend, followed by a midweek trip to Ohio State on Tuesday.
Seton Hall
The bats came alive on Sunday, as Seton Hall was held to one run each on Friday and Saturday before eight runs was enough to get by College of Charleston. The midweek provided some positive momentum, however, with a 14-6 win over Wagner. It’s a west coast trip for the Pirates, with Cal Poly next on the schedule.
Xavier
Xavier came back from a Friday defeat and secured a series victory over Liberty to move to 4-3 as one of two Big East schools with a winning record, then followed that up with a midweek win over Indiana. The Stanford Cardinal welcome in the Musketeers for a quartet of games this weekend before a tough midweek battle against No. 1 Tennessee.
Villanova
Villanova would probably like Sunday’s 17-3 loss to Winthrop back, but the Wildcats did win the series’ first two games by a combined 20-7. The home opener was also a bright spot, with a 12-2 victory over Coppin State to get above .500. Villanova is back out on the road, with Lipscomb as this weekend’s destination for a three-game set. From there, it’s off to Florida and a midweek game against Miami (FL).
Non-conference opponents
Without a new NCAA Tournament bracket projection, this portion of the newsletter will examine trends among UConn’s non-conference opponents.
Florida Atlantic opened with Delaware and had no trouble with a 35-5 cumulative score over three games. Sunday’s defeat to the Huskies was its first this year. Fordham is in Boca Raton this weekend.
Miami (FL) is 8-1 on the young season, sweeping Niagara in three games and Princeton in four. A 2-1 midweek loss to Florida Atlantic is the lone blemish. Gainesville is the site of this weekend’s games, as the Hurricanes face No. 7 Florida.
Campbell has been swept by No. 22 UC Santa Barbara and lost a series to Rider, but did beat East Carolina in the midweek, as well as Duke on Tuesday. Georgia Southern is in Buies Creek this weekend.
UNC Greensboro already owns a series win over fellow Big East school Creighton, as well as a midweek win over then-No. 15 Wake Forest. However, the Spartans dropped a series last weekend to Virginia Tech. Pittsburgh is in town this weekend for three.
Maine took a series against The Citadel over the weekend, but was swept in four games by Louisiana Tech to open the year. George Washington awaits for three this weekend.
Stetson finished 3-1 in Puerto Rico but is 4-4 overall, while Missouri is down at 3-4 after a 2-1 weekend against HBCU schools in the Andre Dawson Classic. Penn State swept Longwood this weekend to move to 5-1 on the young season.
USC has just one loss, which came on Sunday to Rice, while UCLA’s lone defeat was against Texas A&M- Corpus Christi. No. 12 Vanderbilt fell to Nebraska in the MLB Desert Invitational, but has swept a three-game set against Saint Mary’s and two more over Air Force.
The Week Ahead
Friday: at USC; 9:30 p.m. ET; B1G+
Saturday: at UCLA; 5 p.m. ET; B1G+
Sunday: vs. Vanderbilt; Los Angeles, CA; 1 p.m. ET; TBA
If you’ve enjoyed this newsletter, please consider sharing it with a friend or two - it would mean a lot to us!
Be sure to follow The UConn Blog!