Good read by Dom:
Passed Ball <<
-> UConn fell short of the goal, eliminated this June by the hosts in the Gainesville, Fla., Regional. The drought that began with UConn’s last appearance in the sport’s premier event in 1979 continues.
“Last year stung a lot more, because I felt we did have the horses to not just get there but to have a chance to win a national championship,” Penders said this week in Branford, before the second and last of the UConn Coaches Road Shows.
“This year, I didn’t feel that way. I thought we really maximized our talent. To not have a consistent starting rotation the entire season, and to have guys go down at the end with sickness and injuries, and still fought to the end.”
UConn made the Super Regional in 2011 and ’22, the latter year coming with one win at Stanford of getting there. The image Penders, who got his 700th career win during the regional, takes from this year’s Huskies is the last at-bat, David Smith fouling off pitch after pitch before striking out to end the season. “Smith’s at bat was just so emblematic of the team,” Penders said. “He just kept fighting, kept fouling balls off. We got every stitch out of our ability, and the players squeezed every ounce out of us.” <-