Men #20 UConn @ Xavier University Musketeers (Friday 4/14/23 @3p & Saturday 4/15/23 Doubleheader @ Noon). Games on FloSports & Mixlr.

[huskymedic]

J. Page Hayden Field (Capacity: 500)
Natural grass field
LF - 310ft
LC - 355ft
CF - 380ft
RC -355ft
RF - 310ft

 

[huskymedic]

D1Baseball Series Preview:




-> There are some big series this weekend across the country as Mid-Major powers battle for conference supremacy. League play just got underway in the Big East and we already have what is the most impactful matchup at the midway point of the season between a ranked UConn squad and an upstart Xavier team.

I’ll start with 20-12 Xavier, a team that is 43rd in RPI thanks to some big road wins over UC Santa Barbara, Wofford (a series sweep in Spartanburg, S.C.), Ohio State and Wright State. Good luck finding a team more well-traveled than the Musketeers who have already played games in eight different states and will add at least four more before the end of the season is over. Ethan Bosacker has emerged as the staff ace and has responded well pitching opposite some of the best Xavier’s opponents have had to throw at them. He’s now 4-1, 2.83 on the year with 55 punchouts in 47 2/3 innings. Brant Alazaus has secured the Saturday role while Justin Loer, Clay Schwaner and Jonathan Kelly give the staff a lot of length out of the bullpen. The offense is also performing at a high level, hitting 52 home runs as a team, with a rotating cycle of daily heroes at the plate.

UConn has lived up to its expectations and then some, currently ranked 20th in the latest update to D1Baseball’s Top 25. The Huskies are currently 23-8 and enjoyed a very successful non-conference schedule enjoying series wins at Florida Atlantic, Hawaii and San Diego State before returning home to sweep Rutgers. There’s no easy out in the lineup 1-through-9 for a team slashing .303/.413/.489 with a .982 fielding percentage. David Smith continues to set the tone at the top of the order with Dominic Freeberger, Ben Huber, Korey Morton, Bryan Padilla and Luke Broadhurst making the most of their frequent RBI opportunities. Ian Cooke, Andrew Sears and Jack Sullivan have formed a capable weekend rotation with Justin Willis providing his usual effectiveness as the team’s closer, saving five games in 10 relief appearances. <-

 

[dbmill]

D1Baseball Series Preview:





<Good luck finding a team more well-traveled than the Musketeers who have already played games in eight different states and will add at least four more before the end of the season is over.>

Hmmm, seems to me UConn baseball would fit the above description as well in being a well traveled team.

Xavier certainly has a good offensive team, they are built for their home field, which certainly has a reputation for being a band box. Should be a lot of offense this coming weekend in this series.

UConn is certainly playing quality teams in their next 5 games with 3 against Xavier and midweek games against Northeastern and BC. After that, the quality of the schedule drops off, with most teams being near 200 or above in the RPI. UConn's schedule picks up some again at the end of the season when they play Rhode Island and Creighton, both currently between 100 and 150 in the RPI.

 

[Shortking98]

It will be interesting to see how the pitching lines up through the next 5 games with Cooke missing a start. Would think Quigley would be a decent fit to throw Sunday after pitching Monday. Probably looking at bullpen games for both midweeks if that is the case though.

 

[dbmill]

It will be interesting to see how the pitching lines up through the next 5 games with Cooke missing a start. Would think Quigley would be a decent fit to throw Sunday after pitching Monday. Probably looking at bullpen games for both midweeks if that is the case though.

Yup, with Cooke out, would think S. Quigley will most likely start on Sunday. My guess is that Tom Ellisen and Garrett Coe are the most likely candidates to start next weeks midweek games (which will probably both turn into staff games), but that would also depend on how they get used out of the bullpen during the Xavier series. As usual, we'll see what happens.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

No. 20 #HookC Heads to No. 30 Xavier For BIG EAST Showdown - University of Connecticut Athletics

CINCINNATI - The No. 20 UConn baseball team (24-8, 2-1 BIG EAST) head to first place and No. 30 ranked Xavier (21-12, 3-0 BIG EAST) for a three-game series at Hayden

uconnhuskies.com

<The Huskies will shift up the weekend rotation due to injury this week. The Huskies will have left-hander Andrew Sears start the series opener, right-hander Jack Sullivan start game two and Stephen Quigley pitch the series finale.>

 

[hardcorehusky]

There are very few games that we go into where I feel like we are a prohibitive underdog. The starting pitching for this one is our improving number 2 going against a stud number 1 in a band box against a hot team. This is where in the past our bulldog mentality took over. Here's hoping this year's rendition of the Huskies can make its mark. These next 5 games are huge from an RPI standpoint.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

I had been looking at the Cincinnati weather forecast for the last few days, I had a feeling the Sunday game was going to be moved to a doubleheader. Oh well.

 

[scotty0330]

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Top 1st, UConn offense goes down in order, no score.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 1st, Sears leaves 2 runners on base. No score.

 

[MarkyMark]

Bottom 1st, Sears leaves 2 runners on base. No score.

Love that Andrew is mixing in offspeed stuff. Will benefit him long term.

 

[dbmill]

Top 2nd, Broadhurst with a 1 out solo homer, 1-0 UConn.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Top 2nd, Broadhurst with a 1 out solo homer, 1-0 UConn.

Yep, you were right, nothing quiet about him now.

 

[dbmill]

After the Broadhurst homer, UConn gets a couple of 2 out singles, but they are left on base. 1-0 UConn.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 2nd, Sears with a 1-2-3 inning, 1-0 UConn.

 

[dbmill]

Top 3rd, UConn offense with the minimum 3 batters due to a double play ball. 1-0 UConn.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 3rd, Sears with a scoreless inning picking up 2 strikeouts and leaving a runner at 2B, he has 4 strikeouts on the game. 1-0 UConn. Sears is at 39 pitches, not bad.

 

[dbmill]

Top 4th, Broadhurst with a 1 out single, but he is picked off 1B for the 2nd out. 1-0 UConn.

 

[navery12]

Forgot to pay attention to the first few innings today. Saw the tweet about a double header and just assumed it was today's game being moved. #CasualFan