The Huskies head into the Big East Tournament riding high.
UConn baseball finished the regular season on a high note, notching a sweep against Maine to head into the Big East Tournament on a three-game winning streak. The Huskies earned a share of the Big East regular season championship with a 17-4 conference record, tying with Creighton. However, the Bluejays will have the field’s top seed by virtue of their series win over the Huskies in early April.
Thursday: UConn 13, Maine 4
Maine held top starter Ethan Leys for Friday and the Huskies took advantage, rattling off eight runs in the opening two innings and controlling the game from start to finish in a dominant 13-4 victory.
Vaun Larisa made his third start of the season and fifth appearance overall in place of Leys. He faced 13 hitters but managed just four outs, surrendering eight earned runs on four hits and five walks. Owen Wheeler came on in relief to record the final two outs of the second inning, though UConn commanded an 8-0 lead. The scoring was highlighted by run-scoring singles from Aidan Dougherty and Grant MacArthur in the first and a Tyler Minick home run in the second. Minick’s long ball marked his 19th of the season, the most of any Husky this year.
Oliver Pudvar took the ball for UConn and pitched three strong innings. The only blemish to his line was a base hit in the third, though the lefty recorded four strikeouts and earned the win.
Maine chipped into UConn’s lead in the top of the fourth, tagging Greg Shaw III for three runs in the top of the frame. Shaw recorded a strikeout to begin the inning but quickly lost control, walking the next two hitters. A double by Evan Menzel scored one and pushed the other to third. Aidan Bardi, the next batter, notched an RBI single and a throwing error by Rob Rispoli allowed Menzel to score as well.
Outside of a home run by Sam Biller in the fourth, the UConn offense was kept in check in the middle innings. Shaw settled in after a tumultuous fourth, going on to pitch five strong — his second longest outing of the season in 17 appearances. One more run would be charged to Shaw’s line, a solo home run by Menzel in the sixth.
The Huskies continued their trend of scoring in bunches, plating four in the seventh to round out their run total on the day. Despite bringing 10 hitters to the plate, UConn got just one hit in the inning, an RBI single by Connor Lane. The remaining runs were products of a fielder’s choice by Rispoli, an RBI groundout by Caleb Shpur and an error.
Evan Hamberger came on in the ninth and induced a groundout to the only hitter he saw. Cameron Mayer made his second appearance of the season in relief of Hamberger and retired both hitters he faced.
Friday: UConn 10, Maine 3
A career performance for starting pitcher Thomas Ellisen propelled the Huskies to a series-clinching win Friday, UConn’s sixth consecutive series win.
Ellisen reached career-high marks in innings pitched (seven) and strikeouts (eight), registering just two unearned runs in the 10-3 final. UConn’s three pitchers on the day combined for just one walk, tying a season-low for a third time this year.
The Husky offense scored in every inning but the second and the eighth, putting together 14 hits. Caleb Shpur paved the way with two home runs and five RBI, his first career multi-home run game. He also set a career high in RBI.
Tyler Minick opened the scoring in the bottom of the first, knocking a two-out single to drive in Rob Rispoli, who singled, advanced to second on an error and stole third. Minick finished the day 3-for-4 with a home run and two RBI, while Rispoli went 2-for-4 and scored a team-high three runs.
UConn scored twice on four hits in the third, highlighted by a Ryan Daniels triple. With two outs and the bases loaded, Bryan Padilla lined out, neutralizing UConn’s chance to open a large lead early. One more run came across in the fourth — courtesy of a Daniels RBI single — before Shpur hit his first homer of the game in the fifth, a three-run shot to extend UConn’s lead to 7-2.
Minick joined the power party in the sixth, blasting his 20th homer of the year before Shpur put a second ball over the wall in the seventh, scoring Padilla.
After Ellisen’s seven strong innings, JT Caruso came on in the eighth. The lefty struggled, allowing UConn’s only walk of the game and a single before he was relieved by Sean Finn. Despite striking out the first two hitters he faced, Finn went on to allow a hit, charging the earned run to Caruso, before striking out his third hitter of the inning to halt the damage. Finn stayed on for the ninth, pitching a perfect frame to secure the win.
Saturday: UConn 5, Maine 1
It was another strong pitching performance for the Huskies in the finale, as Charles West scattered four hits and one run over seven innings of work, striking out seven Black Bears along the way, leading to a 5-1 UConn win.
The lone Maine run came with two outs in the seventh, as Damon Gaither knocked a solo home run after getting behind in the count, 1-2, taking advantage of an ineffective breaking ball. At the time, it loomed large, as it tied the game at 1-1, but the home team added two each in the seventh and eighth to come away with a sweep and keep pace in the race for the last few NCAA Tournament bids.
Beau Root, representing what would end up as the game-winning run, hanging tough in a two-strike count of his own to record a single. Bryan Padilla worked a walk to get a runner into scoring position and turn the lineup over. While Rob Rispoli flew out, he was still able to shift Root 90 feet over to third and Caleb Shpur single through the left side to bring him home. Ryan Daniels walked to load the bases, while a two-out base on balls to Sam Biller meant an insurance run.
Walks continued to bite Maine in the eighth, as Grant MacArthur was issued a free pass to begin the frame and Connor Lane, the next hitter, got a middle-middle fastball and deposited it 451 feet away from home plate.
Brady Afhtim, who entered with a runner on second and two outs in the eighth, ended the threat there and worked around a leadoff hit-by-pitch in the ninth to slam the door and earn the save.
It preserved a great start by West, who moved to 5-0. He was able to keep the Black Bears off the scoreboard when they loaded the bases in the second and from there, really settled in. He retired 14 of the final 15 hitters he faced, finding his stride after allowing a runner into scoring position in each of the first three frames.
However, UConn also sputtered with the bats prior to the seventh, as Biller, who scored on a sacrifice fly in the fourth, was the only Husky to reach third through six at-bats.
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UConn (36-19) will face No. 3 Xavier in the Big East Tournament on Wednesday, which takes place at Prasco Park in Mason, OH. First pitch is at 6:30 p.m. on FloSports.