Men UConn @ California (Friday 2/23/24 @9p, Saturday 2/24/24 @5p & Sunday 2/25/24 @4p) *All times EST.* Games on PAC12 Cal Live Stream-2 & MIXLR)

[huskymedic]

HookC Comes Back From Nine Runs Down, Lose 15-12 at Cal - University of Connecticut Athletics

BERKELEY, Calif. – The UConn baseball team (2-3) came back from nine runs down but ultimately fell 15-12 to the California Golden Bears (5-1) on Saturday afternoon

uconnhuskies.com

Box Score

 

[MarkyMark]

Good
1) Down 8-0 and 12-3 they fought back. Would have been easy to fold up the tent. Something to build off of.
2) 3 new guys in the lineup all contributed (5-13, 5 RBIs); Bry made nice contact today and Malcom plays with some fire which I think they need. Interesting to see how playing time shakes out going forward.
3) Good to see Morton making contact and breaking out
4) Ball was jumping out of a park that is already batter-friendly.

Bad
1) Pitching - Cookie was never in rhythm it's a throwaway outing. The main takeaway for him is it's critically important to get ahead of hitters. When he doesn't it spells instant trouble. Understand the takeaways, shake it off, and move forward. The rest of the staff wasn't much better. 14 ER 13H 10W and 1 HBP. I will say this about Sullivan. He wasn't alone today, but he doesn't challenge good hitters and it gets him in trouble. Trust your stuff, challenge hitters, and fight. If it's not good enough so be it. Otherwise, you won't see him much this year. The meat of Cal's lineup is killing them. Green has 3 HRs in 3 games against them including last year. He also stole 2nd and 3rd like it was a walk in the park. Lomavita killed them and Schulze hurt them both days.
2) Mistakes - Morton got picked off, Cookie threw a ball away, Shpur should have gotten picked off second down 12-8 and I think Tammaro almost got picked off first down 8-1 (based on the announcer's call). Also, Tammarro had another error. They aren't good enough at present to overcome this stuff. They need to play clean baseball to win against the types of teams they will be playing the next 2-3 weeks.
3) Dalena is hurting them in the 4-hole. He's had a sprinkling of base hits but need more out of the 4-hole (see Cal).

Cal is an interesting team I like their offense. They have 3-4 guys who can wreck games (even putting the friendly field aside). But pitching will limit them this season against top competition like UCLA, Oregon St., etc.

It's a WIP. See if they can salvage a game tomorrow.

 

[dbmill]

 

[dbmill]

HookC Comes Back From Nine Runs Down, Lose 15-12 at Cal - University of Connecticut Athletics

BERKELEY, Calif. – The UConn baseball team (2-3) came back from nine runs down but ultimately fell 15-12 to the California Golden Bears (5-1) on Saturday afternoon

uconnhuskies.com

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

During the game broadcast yesterday, Chris Jones said that Luke Broadhurst was recovering both from his wrist injury and from illness this weekend, and mentioned he might be able to play next weekend. I'm thinking if Broadhurst does get playing time in the near future, he may end up sharing playing time at 1B with Dalena, as well as sharing playing time at D.H. with Malcom. As usual, we'll see what happens.

 

[MarkyMark]

During the game broadcast yesterday, Chris Jones said that Luke Broadhurst was recovering both from his wrist injury and from illness this weekend, and mentioned he might be able to play next weekend. I'm thinking if Broadhurst does get playing time in the near future, he may end up sharing playing time at 1B with Dalena, as well as sharing playing time at D.H. with Malcom. As usual, we'll see what happens.

@dbmill that's a good update thanks. He may well have to be tweaking the lineups depending on lefty/right pitching. Right now I don't think they are a very good team if I benchmark against the teams of the past 4-5 years. But there is a silver lining and there's ample room for growth.

Playing this schedule your weaknesses will be exposed. If you can fix those weaknesses you can be a much better team in April/May than in Feb/March. Gotta clean up the mental mistakes (3 guys picked off in 5 games, 2 others almost picked), middle relievers not attacking hitters/trusting stuff, and finding an optimal lineup. All are fixable and Broadhurst provides upside.

Today I think you'll see Shpur in CF and Malcom should DH again. My pure guess is you'll see Daniels back at 2B and Padilla at 3B. I'm not sure Minick has done enough offensively to keep the job. He has a very bright future, however, and can still contribute this year.

Being results-oriented if they can get through these first 17 games 9-8 that's a victory. Win today they are 3-3 and in the hunt to accomplish that.

 

[dbmill]

@dbmill that's a good update thanks. He may well have to be tweaking the lineups depending on lefty/right pitching. Right now I don't think they are a very good team if I benchmark against the teams of the past 4-5 years. But there is a silver lining and there's ample room for growth.

Playing this schedule your weaknesses will be exposed. If you can fix those weaknesses you can be a much better team in April/May than in Feb/March. Gotta clean up the mental mistakes (3 guys picked off in 5 games, 2 others almost picked), middle relievers not attacking hitters/trusting stuff, and finding an optimal lineup. All are fixable and Broadhurst provides upside.

Today I think you'll see Shpur in CF and Malcom should DH again. My pure guess is you'll see Daniels back at 2B and Padilla at 3B. I'm not sure Minick has done enough offensively to keep the job. He has a very bright future, however, and can still contribute this year.

Being results-oriented if they can get through these first 17 games 9-8 that's a victory. Win today they are 3-3 and in the hunt to accomplish that.

During the game broadcast yesterday, Chris Jones thought Padilla might of tweaked his injury at one point, but didn't seem to be completely sure about it during the broadcast. If Padilla is healthy enough to play today, it certainly would not surprise me if he is at 3B today with Daniels getting the start at 2B. I would expect Malcom to be at DH again. We'll see who winds up in CF, also wouldn't surprise me if Simmons gets the start, but at this point it seems to be a pretty open position.

 

[huskymedic]

-> Top Performances​

Connecticut:

• Korey Morton: 5-for-5, 3 R, HR, 4 RBI
• Matt Malcom: 1-for-3, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB
• Bryan Padilla: 3-for-5, R, 2 RBI

California:

• Max Handron: 4-for-5, 4 R, RBI, BB
• Caleb Lomavita: 3-for-4, R, HR, 4 RBI, SB
• Rodney Green Jr.: 1-for-2, 3 R, HR, 2 RBI, 3 BB, HBP, 2 SB
• Peyton Schulze: 1-for-3, R, HR, 6 RBI, BB.
• PJ Moutzouridis: 3-for-3, 3 R, 2B, HR, 2 RBI, 2 BB, SB

Bottom Line​

Connecticut
– The Huskies are still rounding into shape and trying to figure out their pieces. It’s unfortunate for them that is taking place while they are playing some important RPI games that could be make or break at the end of the season, if they don’t win the Big East Tournament. But it was good to see Bryan Padilla back in the lineup for the first time this season after having wrist surgery to remove his hamate bone 15 days ago. UConn is hoping to add middle-of-the-lineup bat Luke Broadhurst back from the same injury potentially next weekend.

California
– Speaking of injuries, the Golden Bears hope to get Carson Crawford back in the lineup Sunday after he missed the last three games following a nasty sliding collision with the wall when trying to chase after a deep foul fly opening weekend in Arizona. The fact California has been able to keep rolling without a hiccup offensively without Crawford has shown the depth this lineup has this season, so their ceiling will be determined by how much they can pitch on the mound, especially as they tread water until ace Ian May can return midseason from the arm injury that sidelined him basically the entirety of last season. <-

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

Chris Jones says that Padilla potentially could come off the bench and get some playing time today.

 

[dbmill]

Top 1st, UConn offense goes down in order with 2 strikeouts. No score.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 1st, S. Quigley retires the side in order. No score.

 

[dbmill]

Top 2nd, UConn offense again goes down in order. No score.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 2nd, S. Quigley gets 2 strikeouts in a 1-2-3 inning. No score.

 

[dbmill]

Top 3rd, scoreless inning for the UConn offense after getting their first baserunner off of an infield error. No score.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 3rd, Cal picks up a run. 1-0 Cal.

 

[huskymedic]

Did you guys catch the Cal Baseball Funding plea btw innings?

Cal Baseball is funded 50% by the Athletic Department and 50% by donations through a Foundation. The Foundation fundraising expectation is $700k annually.

Wait till that ACC travel kicks in next year.

 

[dbmill]

Top 4th, UConn offense goes down in order. 1-0 Cal.

 

[CtBaseball]

Top 4th, UConn offense goes down in order. 1-0 Cal.

That was fast!

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 4th, S. Quigley with a 1-2-3 inning. 1-0 Cal.

 

[dbmill]

That was fast!

Game has been quick. It's going into the 5th inning and the game is still a little under an hour old.

 

[Bomber36]

Game has been quick. It's going into the 5th inning and the game is still a little under an hour old.

Nothing like the first two games so far. I think they tired each other out.

 

[dbmill]

Top 5th, Morton with a leadoff double for UConn's first hit of the game. Morton is stranded on base. 1-0 Cal.

 

[dbmill]

Bottom 5th, a scoreless inning for S. Quigley as he leaves 2 runners on base. 1-0 Cal. 75 pitches for Quigley so far.