UCONN at CCSU 3/13

[killerBsaturn]

UCONN up 3-0 in the top of the 5th. Starter Colletti pitched 3.1 innings of perfect ball with 5 K's, before being yanked. No Idea why.

 

[freescooter]

On a pitch count maybe? Given that it is pretty early and still pretty chilly, especially as the game goes on. Wouldn't want someone to hurt his arm pitching in the cold.

 

[mets1090]

Saw he was pulled early as well. Hope it wasn't an injury. UConnBaseball tweeted when he was pulled but made no mention of injury. Pitch count seems likely. Also probably trying to get a bunch of different guys work out of the pen today.

 

[killerBsaturn]

6-3 Top of the 9th

 

[dbmill]

Saw he was pulled early as well. Hope it wasn't an injury. UConnBaseball tweeted when he was pulled but made no mention of injury. Pitch count seems likely. Also probably trying to get a bunch of different guys work out of the pen today.

I was listening to the game on WHUS when Colletti came out. They indicated it was probably pitch count, definitely not an injury.

UConn up 8-3 in bottom of 9th.

 

[mets1090]

I was listening to the game on WHUS when Colletti came out. They indicated it was probably pitch count, definitely not an injury.

UConn up 8-3 in bottom of 9th.

Thanks for posting.

I had high hopes for Colletti coming into this year. Got off to a rough start in his first two appearances but today is certainly encouraging. CCSU is a pretty accurate gauge of the competition he will be pitching against this year assuming he sees most of his action in the mid-week games. Glad to see him dominate.

 

[dbmill]

Thanks for posting.

I had high hopes for Colletti coming into this year. Got off to a rough start in his first two appearances but today is certainly encouraging. CCSU is a pretty accurate gauge of the competition he will be pitching against this year assuming he sees most of his action in the mid-week games. Glad to see him dominate.

In the post game radio interview Penders confirmed they were only looking for Colletti to go three or four innings. He allowed no base runners, although one Central batter was called out after getting a hit for using an illegal bat. Penders loved what he saw. Definitely sounds like Colletti will be getting more starts.

Penders said he was also looking to get other pitchers in who had not gotten any or much time on the mound so far. Catalina, Radue, and Robinson also made appearances, in addition to mainstays Mahoney and Tabakman when things were getting a little tight. Catalina and Radue sounded like they did well, while Robinson quickly gave up two home runs. Penders indicated he has been wanting to get Radue in for some time, as well as Willie Nastasi, who has yet to pitch in a game.

 

[dbmill]

On another note, Tabakman closed out another game. I'm thinking that Penders has it in mind for him to become one of the regular relievers in addition to Mahoney, Feehan, Jolin, and Moore (when healthy). This is especially true with the job that Colletti turned in with his starting effort. I'm guessing that if Penders was thinking of starting Tabakman, he would be getting middle inning relief work instead of short man end of game stuff.

 

[Kgun7]

Noticed in the box score that Verdi led off and Ferriter batted 2nd. Did the radio announcers say anything about that?

 

[mets1090]

The entire lineup looked jumbled from the quick look I took at the box. Sienna has been hitting 2nd and was moved to 4th. Melley was dropped from 4th to I think 6th. Ferriter dropped from 1st to 2nd. Verdi was moved from 5th to 1st. My guess would be that Penders was just using this game to see how each player handled different roles.

 

[dbmill]

Noticed in the box score that Verdi led off and Ferriter batted 2nd. Did the radio announcers say anything about that?

I was wondering how long Jim Penders would go with Melley in the cleanup spot when he hasn’t been all that productive at the bat so far. At any rate, Penders did talk about his little lineup experiment during the postgame interview. In past interviews Penders has said that he thinks that Melley could become a Mike Nemeth type hitter. That being said, so far Melley has not hit like Nemeth, but rather, he is a freshman who has been struggling some at the bat. It sounds like the move was made to get the pressure of the cleanup spot off of him. Meanwhile, Siena has started off with a very hot bat, so he was moved into the middle of the lineup behind Mazzilli. Makes sense, as the two best offensive players in a lineup traditionally hit in the three and four spots.

Verdi was batting sixth, so he had to be moved for Melley. Verdi has been getting on base a LOT, getting plenty of walks and hit by pitches. Verdi has a terrific on base percentage, has speed, and he obviously has the green light to go off on the stolen base sprees that Penders loves. If Verdi continues to get on base like this, then he is well suited for the top of the lineup. Anyway, it sounded like Penders thinks Ferriter can handle the bat a bit better (bunting, hitting to the right side) than Verdi, so Ferriter was put in the two hole instead of Verdi. We’ll see if Penders will stick with the lineup change, but I like it.