-> Connecticut returned to its long-time conference home last year after a seven-year sabbatical in the American Athletic Conference and cruised to the Big East regular-season title, winning by two games. It beat Xavier two of three times in the conference tournament to make its third consecutive regional and seventh in the last 11 NCAA tournaments. The Huskies lost five draft picks, including Big East Player of the Year Kyler Fedko, off last year’s team. They then suffered an even bigger blow during the offseason when elite two-way talent Reggie Crawford — he of the 100-mph fastball and the light tower power (13 HR, 62 RBI) from the left side — had to have Tommy John surgery that will force him to miss the 2021 season. And yet, UConn remains the team to beat in the Big East and the preeminent program in the Northeast. That’s because the Huskies reload rather than rebuild.
This year, that starts with swiping transfer Casey Dana from conference foe Seton Hall after he hit .306, 7, 36 and was an All-Big East second-team member for the Pirates. The 6-foot-4, 215-pound Dana will provide some thump at the plate as will Division II Limestone College transfer Ben Huber. The 6-foot-3, 245-pound blonde bomber hit .439, 10, 48 last season. He’ll slot into the middle of UConn’s lineup, possibly batting cleanup, where he is expected to be a force. LaSalle transfer David Smith will be at the top of the lineup where he has good speed and can also load up and drive the baseball. Between Smith and Huber, you’ll find hit machine Erik Stock, who started his career at Old Dominion. Stock has slashed .381/.453/.560 in his two seasons with the Huskies. He showed some pop last season as well with 14 doubles, two triples and six home runs as he was named All-Big East first team. Stock also stole eight bases in nine tries. He just is a baseball player. He does everything above average and makes winning play after winning play, including with his defense in center field. He’ll be tasked with helping his fellow outfielders as Dana is making the transition to the outfield in right and Kevin Ferrer (.275, 1, 20) is a bat-first left fielder that is primed for a breakout campaign with a little more patience at the plate. Ferrer won’t have too many grounders to field with third-year sophomore third baseman Chris Brown (.296, 5, 38) playing in front of him. He’s a vacuum that continues to get better and better defensively. He has all the tools to be a true prospect at the hot corner on the next level. Fifth-year senior shortstop Zach Bushling hit a team-low (among starters) .250 last season but produces some of the best at-bats on the team. He was second on the team with 25 walks drawn pushing his on-base percentage to .372. When he gets on bases, he can cause some havoc as well (10 SB last season).
On the mound, UConn returns 6-foot-6, 234-pound Austin Peterson to front the rotation. The Purdue bounce back went 7-1, 2.58 while holding hitters to a .201 average. He was named to the All-Big East second team last season and is a preseason All-Big East selection this spring. He knows how to attack the zone, works with three pitches and moves his 88-93-mph fastball around the zone effortlessly. Peterson is the head of a pitching staff that amassed 151 more strikeouts than the next closest team in the Big East. The Huskies will have to replace 127 of those with the departure of Ben Casparius (8-5, 4.03), but third-year sophomore Pat Gallagher (5-2, 4.44) took his game to another level late in the season last year. He struck out more than a batter per inning in five conference starts, going 3-0, 2.85, including pitching 5.2 scoreless innings in the Big East Tournament championship game. Gallagher has a plus slider and changeup that aren’t always on at the same time, but when they are, hitters are in trouble. He was 2-0, 3.90 with 33 strikeouts in 25.1 innings this summer in the Cape Cod League.
Fifth-year junior Enzo Stefanoni is battling with freshman Ian Cooke for the final starting roles. Stefanoni should be fresh as he comes over from Harvard having barely thrown the last two seasons with the Ivy League cancelling the 2021 season. He throws a lot of strikes and mixes two diverse breaking balls — a slow loopy curveball and a sharp-biting slider. He was 5-1, 2.82 in 2019. Cooke has Friday night starter potential down the road. He has an 89-93 mph fastball with sink that he tunnels pretty well with a plus slider that gets a lot of swings and misses. Speaking of sliders, 5-foot-8 slider machine Justin Willis (4-0, 2.60, 1 SV), who began his career at Vanderbilt, returned from a two-year absence to become one of Connecticut’s most dynamic bullpen arms, allowing only eight hits in 16 appearances last season. Another likely high-leverage bullpen arm is Cole Chudoba, a transfer from Division II Assumption College. He struck out 40 in 35 innings last season and could be used as the Huskies’ closer with a fastball he can run into the mid-90s and a hard slider. Chudoba and some other newcomers will have to fill some important roles. UConn has a lot of depth on the staff but outside of Willis, Brendan O’Donnell (0-0, 13.14) is the only returning reliever that made at least 10 appearances. Finding the right roles will be key for the Huskies to avoid coming out of the gates slow like last year’s 4-10 start.<-
