The Huskies outscored the Bulldogs 36-11 over three games.
UConn baseball finished its Big East slate in dominant fashion, sweeping Butler this weekend and claiming at least a partial share of the conference’s regular season title for the fifth season in a row.
Saturday Game 1: UConn 18, Butler 4
UConn kicked the series off with a high-scoring flair, scoring six runs in the first inning and 18 in the game to win the doubleheader opener.
Oliver Pudvar secured his fifth win of the season, pitching six innings of two-run ball with just one earned. He recorded six strikeouts before handing the ball off to Kyle Peters, who handled the final three innings of the game to secure the save.
The first five hitters reached base safely in the first inning, setting the table for a hit parade. Rob Rispoli scored on a Ryan Daniels single and Caleb Shpur scored after Sam Biller was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded. With two outs later in the inning, Grant MacArthur drove an opposite-field grand slam over the wall to clear the bases. It was one of two home runs MacArthur would hit on the day, alongside a solo shot he blasted in the third inning.
The Huskies wasted no time adding on in the next frame, chasing Butler starter Andrew Hendrickx from the game after just 1 1⁄3 innings pitched. With two outs, three consecutive doubles by Daniels, Tyler Minick and Sam Biller plated two more runs.
After MacArthur’s solo shot in the third, the offense one-upped itself in the fourth to add three more, putting the first six men on base without recording an out. Daniels scored on Biller’s second hit of the day, while Minick crossed the plate on a passed ball. Connor Lane joined the action with a double, scoring Biller and bumping the Huskies lead up to 12-1.
Peters allowed one run in the sixth and two in the seventh, but the Huskies added five more tallies on five hits in the bottom of the seventh. MacArthur picked up his sixth and seventh RBI with a double, punctuating his 3-for-4 day alongside a walk.
Saturday Game 2: UConn 11, Butler 6
Both offenses traded three-run first innings to begin the latter half of the doubleheader, but the Huskies outscored Butler 8-3 the rest of the way to sweep the day. Ryan Daniels left the yard twice as part of his 4-for-5 day, powering the offense with seven RBIs.
Thomas Ellisen stumbled early in his start. He allowed hits to the first two hitters of the game before surrendering a three-run blast to Tommy Townsend. The right-hander settled in nicely following the first, going on to pitch 6 2⁄3 innings, allowing just one hit and one earned run from the second inning on, mixing in three walks.
The Huskies evened the score in the bottom of the first much like the Bulldogs got on top — with a three-run home run. After Rob Rispoli singled and Caleb Shpur was hit by a pitch, Ryan Daniels launched a three-run homer to right field. Daniels doubled down in the fourth inning, blasting a two-run shot to give the Huskies the lead — his 15th of the year and his third multi-homer game of the season. The next inning, Matt Garbowski stretched UConn’s lead to four with a big fly of his own, scoring Bryan Padilla. The home run marked Garbowski’s first of the season and just his seventh in four years in Storrs.
With Ellisen cruising, including a stretch in which he retired 13 straight hitters, UConn added two more insurance runs in the sixth, as Daniels knocked a two-run single.
Greg Shaw III was sent on to finish the seventh inning, though he allowed a double and a hit by pitch as his outing ended without recording an out. With two outs and the bases loaded, JT Caruso struck out Butler’s Jack Moroknek to escape without any damage. Caruso would stay on for the eighth, but the left-hander got just one out and surrendered two earned runs. Jim Penders made the call for his closer, Brady Afthim, pitching the final 1 2⁄3 innings of the game. Afthim walked three and struck out three but did not allow a run as UConn ran away with the sweep of the doubleheader.
Sunday: UConn 7, Butler 1
With a chance to take all three games on the series, the Husky pitching staff rose to the occasion. Four pitchers combined to allow just five hits and one run as UConn took the win and the sweep by a score of 7-1.
Charles West fanned six hitters over five one-hit innings. He struggled with his control, walking six hitters, but did not surrender a run Both offenses were kept in check early, with the only run through four innings coming courtesy of Grant MacArthur, who hit a solo shot in the second inning for his third home run of the series.
The Huskies broke through again in the fifth, starting with a MacArthur walk. He dashed to third on an Aidan Dougherty double and both came around to score on a Connor Lane two-bagger.
After West, Sam Hutchinson retired the only hitter he faced. He was followed by Greg Shaw III, who handled the remainder of the sixth inning and all of the seventh, working around two hits and a walk to keep Butler off the board. Meanwhile, UConn cashed in for two runs in each of the sixth and seventh innings. In the sixth, Caleb Shpur singled and stole second, later scoring on a throwing error from Butler second baseman AJ Solomon. Tyler Minick, who reached on a fielder’s choice and advanced to second on the same error, scored as an unearned run on a single by Sam Biller.
Padilla doubled to lead off the seventh, scoring on the next hitter as Rob Rispoli knocked a single. Rispoli would come all the way around to score, advancing to second on a sacrifice bunt, moving to third after two-consecutive walks and crossing the plate on a sacrifice fly by Biller.
JT Caruso came out of the bullpen to start the eighth, striking out the only hitter he faced in Tommy Townsend for the second-straight day. Sean Finn pushed UConn across the finish line, handling the final 1 2⁄3 innings. Butler scored its only run of the game against Finn, patching together a triple and a double to cut the lead to 7-1 in the eighth, but Finn induced three ground outs in the ninth to bring home the win.
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UConn (33-18, 17-4 Big East) has now swept five-straight Big East series and if Creighton doesn’t finish 3-0 against Georgetown this weekend, will have sole possession of the conference regular season title. The Huskies will be back in action in the midweek against Northeastern in a game that carries serious RPI implications. First pitch is set for 6:05 p.m. Tuesday at Elliot Ballpark.