The Huskies close the regular season with three games against the Black Bears
When:
Thursday, May 15, 6:05 p.m. ET
Friday, May 16, 6:05 p.m. ET
Saturday, May 17, 1:05 p.m. ET
Where: Elliot Ballpark, Storrs, CT
Radio: Mixlr
TV: UConn+
Projected Starters:
Thursday: LHP Oliver Pudvar (5-1, 3.29) vs. RHP Colin Fitzgerald (5-5, 5.35)
Friday: RHP Thomas Ellisen (5-3, 7.23) vs. LHP Caleb Leys (5-1, 2.44)
Saturday: LHP Charles West (4-0, 2.77) vs. RHP Gianni Gambardella (5-4, 4.99)
Series History:
UConn and Maine have a storied past, with the two programs matching up for the first time in 1924 and playing 113 times in their century-long rivalry. UConn won that first game 10-2 and has controlled the all-time series 63-50, averaging about four and a half runs per contest. The two teams have squared off as recently as April 2024, though it was their first matchup in two decades. UConn handed Maine a 20-2 loss that day, the largest margin of victory the Huskies have ever hung on the board in a game against the Black Bears. This weekend marks the first three-game set played between these two programs since 1988, when UConn took two of three in Orono.
What to Watch For:
UConn is 20-2 in its last 22 games, but went cold en route to a 7-1 loss against one of the nation’s top pitching staffs in Northeastern. Maine is a middling Division I program this season — RPI No. 182 — and has lost five of its last six games, sitting at 20-27 overall. The Black Bears are treading water in America East with a 13-11 record despite a 6-1 start to their conference slate.
Even with a sweep there is little to gain for the Huskies in terms of RPI value this weekend. UConn dropped three spots from No. 40 to No. 43 after the Northeastern loss, but facing a Quad 4 opponent in Maine, the team is looking to secure three wins and nothing less.
The Maine offense is lacking in firepower compared to UConn. The Black Bears have just two qualified hitters hitting over .300 compared to UConn’s six and zero hitters with an OPS over 1.000, while the Huskies have three. UConn has hit 82 homers as a team while Maine has just 50, and have scored the 14th most runs in the nation, 455, while Maine has scored 291. The most productive hitter in the Black Bear lineup is Myles Sargant, leading all qualified hitters in average (.342), OPS (.975) and RBI (40), while sitting tied for the team lead in home runs with seven.
Leys is a bonafide ace within the Maine rotation and should be the most troublesome arm the Huskies see all weekend. The lefty went just one inning in his last start against Binghamton, snapping a streak of six-consecutive starts in which he went at least five innings and surrendered at most three earned runs. He pitched seven innings in four of those six starts, and currently carries 2.44 ERA on the year, the 23rd-best mark in the nation. In 59 innings pitched, Leys has yet to allow a home run.
Fitzgerald is Maine’s workhorse, routinely going deep in games. His 84 innings pitched on the year is among the nation’s highest tallies. He has pitched at least seven innings in seven of his 13 starts, throwing a complete game in a March 27 game against NJIT. Gambardella has molded into a starter since beginning the season out of the bullpen. The junior has struck out 20 hitters over 19 innings over his last three starts, though it has not generated success, as he has also surrendered 26 hits and 12 earned runs.
This is a series for the UConn bats to get back on track. After scoring 36 runs in three games against Butler last weekend, it got a taste of what a top pitching staff looked like Tuesday against Northeastern. To keep confidence high heading into the Big East tournament, the Huskies will need to do what they have done all year long: hunt strikes, score runs and beat up on the lesser teams.