Men UConn Baseball 2022

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

With Ken Campbell having pitched yesterday at the conclusion of the UMass game, there are four UConn pitchers on the roster who have not yet seen the mound during a game this season. Chris Jones mentioned in a recent broadcast that Leo Socci had a season ending injury that resulted in surgery, and that it is possible that he will never be able to pitch again. Apparently during recent games he had been filling a roll as a team manager, so he is still active with the team. The other pitchers who have not seen any action yet are California JUCO Curran Larson, Tom Ellisen, and Mitchell Pascarella, who are all in their first season with UConn baseball. One would think they are all likely to be redshirted at this point, we'll see about that. Chris Jones was talking about Ellisen during a recent broadcast, saying the the coaches are quite high on his potential and his future with the team, but at this late point in the season they are likely to keep with the decision to redshirt him.

 

[Dove]

En fuego !!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[huskymedic]

 

[hardcorehusky]

With Ken Campbell having pitched yesterday at the conclusion of the UMass game, there are four UConn pitchers on the roster who have not yet seen the mound during a game this season. Chris Jones mentioned in a recent broadcast that Leo Socci had a season ending injury that resulted in surgery, and that it is possible that he will never be able to pitch again. Apparently during recent games he had been filling a roll as a team manager, so he is still active with the team. The other pitchers who have not seen any action yet are California JUCO Curran Larson, Tom Ellisen, and Mitchell Pascarella, who are all in their first season with UConn baseball. One would think they are all likely to be redshirted at this point, we'll see about that. Chris Jones was talking about Ellisen during a recent broadcast, saying the the coaches are quite high on his potential and his future with the team, but at this late point in the season they are likely to keep with the decision to redshirt him.

I caught up with Socci during a game last year as he was rehabbing from an injury. He is a really nice guy and I enjoyed catching up with him. Hopefully he can play and either way, that UConn degree will come in handy.

 

[HuskyHawk]

This has been amazing. The level play, especially the offense at home. Wow.

 

[dbmill]

UConn baseball is in the middle of a stretch of 10 games in 13 days, so it is always interesting to watch how the pitching staff is handled when a bunch of games pile up. Have to figure that Cooke and probably Chudoba won't be available for the Villanova series this weekend. I'd be inclined to have them both start the two midweek games next week against Northeastern and Yale. UConn baseball will probably need to used them as starters in the coming post season games, so I certainly don't mind them getting more work as starters. Bullpen depth is looking like it could be pretty good, so I would think the team can afford to use Cooke and Chudoba that way. The rest of the bullpen looks to be in fine shape and well rested for the coming Villanova series.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[businesslawyer]

UConn baseball is in the middle of a stretch of 10 games in 13 days, so it is always interesting to watch how the pitching staff is handled when a bunch of games pile up. Have to figure that Cooke and probably Chudoba won't be available for the Villanova series this weekend. I'd be inclined to have them both start the two midweek games next week against Northeastern and Yale. UConn baseball will probably need to used them as starters in the coming post season games, so I certainly don't mind them getting more work as starters. Bullpen depth is looking like it could be pretty good, so I would think the team can afford to use Cooke and Chudoba that way. The rest of the bullpen looks to be in fine shape and well rested for the coming Villanova series.

Chudoba can certainly pitch on Sunday if he's needed.

Penders doesn't seem to be in a hurry to just give Cooke the fourth starter role and thus keep him out of the bullpen. He's almost certain to be a weekend starter next year, but I can see Penders just thinking he'd rather get 2 or 3 innings out of him in a close game 1 or game 2 rather than saving him for a game 4. It will be interesting.

 

[dbmill]

Penders doesn't seem to be in a hurry to just give Cooke the fourth starter role and thus keep him out of the bullpen. He's almost certain to be a weekend starter next year, but I can see Penders just thinking he'd rather get 2 or 3 innings out of him in a close game 1 or game 2 rather than saving him for a game 4. It will be interesting.

We'll see what happens with Chudoba. I don't think it is an absolute certainty that he won't pitch on Sunday against Villanova, but we'll see how the series goes.

I suspect that since Cooke is probably done for the weekend that he will get a start in the midweek next week, which will be the last time UConn plays two midweek games this regular season. The following weekend UConn plays Butler, which has an RPI that is rather similar to Seton Hall. I expect that following next week's midweek games Cooke will again be on potential bullpen duty.

As you mention, it wouldn't surprise me at all if the coaching staff uses him as you outline in the Big East Tournament. Coach Penders does put high priority on winning the game that is currently being played in a post season tournament situation. He'll worry about the next game later on.

 

[huskymedic]

-> There are bound to be ants at any picnic. It’s that time of year, and for the Huskies it’s the RPI. They are ranked 14th in Collegiate Baseball’s latest poll, No. 15 in D1Baseball.com’s top 25, 16th by USA Today, 13th by the U.S. college baseball writers and No. 8 by Perfect Game, but are conspicuously unranked by Baseball America. The Huskies’ RPI, 57th, could mean they will have run the gauntlet of a conference tournament to secure a berth in the NCAA’s field of 64. The Big East doesn’t have another team in the top 80, and many of UConn’s nonconference opponents have lower RPI numbers than anticipated, though wins over South Florida, Louisville, Pepperdine, USC and Boston College could gain value over the next month.

“If we rattle off, win, win, win, just keep winning, I don’t think there’s a committee in America that’s going to look at a number and say, ‘Hey, wait a second,’” Penders said. “Why have a committee of human beings if it’s just a number? Why not use some common sense?”

There’s an easy way to avoid it — easy, at least, the way UConn has been playing.

“Dory from Finding Nemo says, ‘Just keep swimming. Just keep swimming,” Penders said. “We’ve adopted, ‘Just keep winning. Just keep winning.’ W-E-G, win every game. I do think this team is better than some of the at-large teams we’ve had, but that’s a biased opinion.” <-

 

[huskymedic]

-> On Sunday, Stefanoni showed poise under pressure while working out of first-and-third jams in the third and fourth innings. He's had great command, walking just 10 in 58.2 innings.

The UConn coaching staff has had to encourage Stefanoni to throw some balls just to mix it up. "Just to give the hitter a little bit different look, move his eyes out of the zone every so often," Penders said.

Stefanoni is more than just a terrific pitcher. Armed with a positive, upbeat personality, he's also a good teammate.

"He's a beautiful human being," Penders said. "His parents have done a marvelous job with him. I know he has two other siblings at Harvard. They're certainly not underachievers. Both Mom and Dad went to Harvard.

"I just find it really cool, here's a kid from Darien and Fairfield County, a place that we struggle to recruit from, that always wanted to be a Husky. He got his Harvard degree and he's also working full-time. He's a credit to his family.

He's a joy to be around, too. He's like talking to a 35-year-old guy. I'm sure he's probably my only guy that reads the Wall Street Journal daily. He's fit in really well, too." <-

 

[huskymedic]

 

[huskymedic]

Still no Husky sighting in the Baseball America Top 25 this week…

College Baseball Top 25 Rankings

Wake Forest remains atop the Baseball America Top 25 after another series win. The Demon Deacons won all 10 of their ACC series and didn’t post a losing weekend throughout the regular season.

www.baseballamerica.com

… while Perfect Game is very loving/generous w/ the Huskies @ #7

College Baseball Top 25: April 25

We’re officially through three-quarters of the season and the only thing that seems to be clear is that Tennessee is still the top team in the country.

www.perfectgame.org

 

[huskymedic]

UConn remains @ #15 in the D1Baseball/NCAA Top 25 Poll this week (4/25/22):

D1Baseball Top 25: Vols Top, Texas A&M, Wofford Enter Rankings • D1Baseball

After a wild week in the rankings last week, Texas A&M and Wofford are the lone entrants into this week's D1Baseball Top 25 rankings.

d1baseball.com

 

[UConNick]

Nice to see us getting some respect and the benefit of the doubt from the polls so far this week. Although yes, 7 is INSANE haha. This would be a tremendous year for the previous iteration of the Big East between us, Notre Dame, Louisville, Rutgers, and even Pitt and West Virginia are having solid years. I unfortunately wasn't really a college baseball follower outside of our 2010/2011 runs, but those years (05-13 or so) seem like they were probably pretty fun, even if we weren't always competitive.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Nice to see us getting some respect and the benefit of the doubt from the polls so far this week. Although yes, 7 is INSANE haha. This would be a tremendous year for the previous iteration of the Big East between us, Notre Dame, Louisville, Rutgers, and even Pitt and West Virginia are having solid years. I unfortunately wasn't really a college baseball follower outside of our 2010/2011 runs, but those years (05-13 or so) seem like they were probably pretty fun, even if we weren't always competitive.

The weakness of the current Big East is definitely of concern. Even as recently as 2019 St. John's was a 40-win team. Now, they'll be lucky to get half that this year. I think we only have one win vs a current ranked team (beat #16 Louisville 9-2 in the 3rd game of the year). We did take 2/3 vs San Diego who is on the fringe of being ranked and took down USC who was ranked #25 but have seemingly nose-dived since, but it would be nice if some Big East teams became even respectable...

 

[dbmill]

The weakness of the current Big East is definitely of concern. Even as recently as 2019 St. John's was a 40-win team. Now, they'll be lucky to get half that this year. I think we only have one win vs a current ranked team (beat #16 Louisville 9-2 in the 3rd game of the year). We did take 2/3 vs San Diego who is on the fringe of being ranked and took down USC who was ranked #25 but have seemingly nose-dived since, but it would be nice if some Big East teams became even respectable...

Both St. John's and Seton Hall are traditionally better teams then they are showing this season. St. John's in particular has a pretty good baseball history for a school based in the northeast. It would really help the Big East if both these teams return to their traditional form. Two of the traditional bottom dwellers in the conference for baseball are Villanova and Georgetown, both are having better seasons this year than what they usually do. As with St. John's and Seton Hall, we'll see if Villanova and Georgetown continues a season by season improvement, or sink back into the bottom tier of the Big East.

You got the wrong San Diego. There are about three NCAA Division 1 schools that have San Diego in their name. UConn played UC San Diego, not the University of San Diego. UC San Diego is a traditional Division 2 power in baseball that moved up to Division 1 recently.

 

[ThabeetDown]

Both St. John's and Seton Hall are traditionally better teams then they are showing this season. St. John's in particular has a pretty good baseball history for a school based in the northeast. It would really help the Big East if both these teams return to their traditional form. Two of the traditional bottom dwellers in the conference for baseball are Villanova and Georgetown, both are having better seasons this year than what they usually do. As with St. John's and Seton Hall, we'll see if Villanova and Georgetown continues a season by season improvement, or sink back into the bottom tier of the Big East.

You got the wrong San Diego. There are about three NCAA Division 1 schools that have San Diego in their name. UConn played UC San Diego, not the University of San Diego. UC San Diego is a traditional Division 2 power in baseball that moved up to Division 1 recently.

Yeah I know Blankmeyer left St. John’s after 2019 or 2020 and the new coach has not kept up the momentum the last two seasons. Hopefully they and Hall bounce back because we sure need it. You’d think Xavier and Creighton would be slightly better too.

Thanks for the San Diego correction. I remember that from basketball season now. It was a lot easier when it was just SD and SDSU now adding UCSD into the fold is just mean.

 

[UConnRock]

The weakness of the current Big East is definitely of concern. Even as recently as 2019 St. John's was a 40-win team. Now, they'll be lucky to get half that this year. I think we only have one win vs a current ranked team (beat #16 Louisville 9-2 in the 3rd game of the year). We did take 2/3 vs San Diego who is on the fringe of being ranked and took down USC who was ranked #25 but have seemingly nose-dived since, but it would be nice if some Big East teams became even respectable...

It is just not the Big East. The OOC schedule ended up being pretty weak. Teams and RPI - USF (137), Charlotte (88), North Florida (132), FIU (213), Pepperdine (98), USC (106), Long Beach (111), San Diego (195). All but Pepperdine are worse RPIs in 2022 than in 2021 with some being significant. USF went from 77 to 137, Charlotte from 34 to 88, FIU from 149 to 213 and San Diego from 154 to 195.

 

[hardcorehusky]

It is just not the Big East. The OOC schedule ended up being pretty weak. Teams and RPI - USF (137), Charlotte (88), North Florida (132), FIU (213), Pepperdine (98), USC (106), Long Beach (111), San Diego (195). All but Pepperdine are worse RPIs in 2022 than in 2021 with some being significant. USF went from 77 to 137, Charlotte from 34 to 88, FIU from 149 to 213 and San Diego from 154 to 195.

Agreed but some of them have the ability if they win, to jump up in the RPI. Here's rooting for USF, Pepperdine, USC, Long Beach and San Diego moving forward.

 

[huskymedic]

UConn remains @ #15 in the D1Baseball/NCAA Top 25 Poll this week (4/25/22):

D1Baseball Top 25: Vols Top, Texas A&M, Wofford Enter Rankings • D1Baseball

After a wild week in the rankings last week, Texas A&M and Wofford are the lone entrants into this week's D1Baseball Top 25 rankings.

d1baseball.com

UConn remains @ #16 in the USA Today’s Coaches Poll this week (4/25/22)

NCAA Baseball Coaches Poll | USA Today Sports

Weekly results from the USA TODAY Sports NCAA Baseball coaches poll, conducted weekly using a panel of head coaches at Division I schools.

www.usatoday.com

 

[ThabeetDown]

It is just not the Big East. The OOC schedule ended up being pretty weak. Teams and RPI - USF (137), Charlotte (88), North Florida (132), FIU (213), Pepperdine (98), USC (106), Long Beach (111), San Diego (195). All but Pepperdine are worse RPIs in 2022 than in 2021 with some being significant. USF went from 77 to 137, Charlotte from 34 to 88, FIU from 149 to 213 and San Diego from 154 to 195.

Yeah, its so hard given the transfer market in all sports (I know basketball is getting all the attention right now) to know how good/bad a team will be when you're scheduling OOC. Hurley even said as much regarding basketball scheduling.

At least the team is getting some recognition for their play in the polls; at the end of the day all that matters is NCAA tournament seeding. Hopefully we get that 2 seed like we were getting in 2010/2011 and go from there!

 

[dbmill]

It is just not the Big East. The OOC schedule ended up being pretty weak. Teams and RPI - USF (137), Charlotte (88), North Florida (132), FIU (213), Pepperdine (98), USC (106), Long Beach (111), San Diego (195). All but Pepperdine are worse RPIs in 2022 than in 2021 with some being significant. USF went from 77 to 137, Charlotte from 34 to 88, FIU from 149 to 213 and San Diego from 154 to 195.

To add in some more. Bryant had an RPI of 81 in 2021, they currently have an RPI of 171 for 2022. Rhode Island had an RPI of 75 in 2021, they currently have an RPI of 204 for 2022. Both these schools have traditionally year to year been closer to their 2021 RPI than what they are currently showing. Just because these schools are in the north doesn't make them traditionally bad baseball schools.

Also, Northeastern in 2021 had an RPI of 39, they have an RPI of 153 currently for the 2022 season.

Kent State has been a baseball power in the midwest for the last couple decades. Before this season they were neck and neck with UConn for the most wins by a baseball school north of the Mason Dixon Line over the last decade. They have gone from an RPI of 150 last season to an RPI of 191 so far this season.

UConn just had a lot of bad luck in how weak their 2022 out of conference schedule ended up being.

 

[dbmill]

UConn baseball's summary of the weekly polls: