UConn @ Coastal Carolina Tourney (Fri. 3/1 Northeastern, Sat. 3/2 Dbl Header>Indiana @1:05 & #19 Coastal Carolina @5:30 & Sun. 3/3 #25 Illinois @Noon)

[dbmill]

2 out, Christian Fedko hit by pitch brings in the go ahead run, 4-3 UConn.

 

[dbmill]

Chris Winkel's first walk of the year brings in another run, 5-3 UConn. Jacob Wallace, as you would expect, is up in the pen.

 

[huskymedic]

Go for the jugular!!!

 

[dbmill]

Phillips with another bases loaded walk, 6-3 UConn.

 

[huskymedic]

Go for the jugular!!!

One nick @ a time...

 

[uconnbaseball]

Thank goodness offense...

 

[dbmill]

Thank goodness offense...

Walks and stuff, patience is a virtue.

 

[dbmill]

Wallace in to pitch the 8th. 6-3 UConn lead.

 

[dbmill]

Wallace having some trouble in the 8th. No out, 1 run in, runners on the corners. 6-4 UConn lead.

 

[dbmill]

Wallace gets out of it with 2 strikeouts and and a fly out. 6-4 UConn, going to the bottom of the 8th.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Whew! Let's get that run back.

 

[dbmill]

1 out in the bottom of the 8th, Toppa walks to load the bases. 9 walks for UConn batters today.

 

[dbmill]

Pat Winkel sac fly makes it 7-4 UConn.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Nice to see another team give away gifts for once!

 

[dbmill]

Wallace gets the save, and UConn the 7-4 win over a ranked team!!

 

[huskymedic]

Nice salvage job. End on a high note!

 

[dbmill]

Nice salvage job. End on a high note!

Very nice job considering the current state of UConn's starting pitching. That will change as Feole gets more on the beam of things and is able to get quality starts.

 

[uconnbaseball]

5-5, but all 10 games we have played are tough (Northeastern beat Missouri and nearly beat Illinois last night). I believe we play Michigan State next weekend, which will be the weakest team we have seen so far. Hopefully we can take at least 3 out of 4.

 

[dbmill]

5-5, but all 10 games we have played are tough (Northeastern beat Missouri and nearly beat Illinois last night). I believe we play Michigan State next weekend, which will be the weakest team we have seen so far. Hopefully we can take at least 3 out of 4.

Next weekend is Texas State, which looks to be another tough series with a team with some quality wins already this season. Michigan State is the weekend after that.

In my book a 5-5 record with those teams played is pretty good considering Mason Feole has thrown only 3 innings so far this season.

 

[Guapo]

Phew that felt good.

 

[businesslawyer]

There has been plenty of both good and bad so far. We are getting remarkable performances from the top 3 in our lineup and Kersten, Wallace and Dandaneau. But we have far too may folks both at positions and pitchers who will need not to be stars but to be much more competent than they have been to date. We are 4-0 with Feole and Kersten starting and 1-5 behind anyone else.

We haven't harmed ourselves yet -- especially given 3 innings in ten games from our ace -- but if we want to host this year more folks need to step up.
Time will tell.

My biggest question -- how much longer until we realize that maybe Gardner is far more valuable as a starter and move him back into the rotation?

 

[uconnbaseball]

My biggest question -- how much longer until we realize that maybe Gardner is far more valuable as a starter and move him back into the rotation?

Agree, even if he can't bump Simeone for the #3 starter gig, I would like to see him as a midweek / #4 starter. For whatever reason, he is clearly more comfortable in that role.

The main issue with Gardner is that he doesn't eat as many innings as you'd like, but it's not like any of our starters sans Kersten and Feole can be relied upon to do that anyway. I like what I saw yesterday from Dunlop out of the bullpen, so I would support them switching their preseason projected roles.

 

[huskymedic]

Penders post game:

 

[businesslawyer]

Agree, even if he can't bump Simeone for the #3 starter gig, I would like to see him as a midweek / #4 starter. For whatever reason, he is clearly more comfortable in that role.

The main issue with Gardner is that he doesn't eat as many innings as you'd like, but it's not like any of our starters sans Kersten and Feole can be relied upon to do that anyway. I like what I saw yesterday from Dunlop out of the bullpen, so I would support them switching their preseason projected roles.

Gardner last year went deeper into games, and with a lower ERA, than anyone other than Feole and Kersten looks to be able to do this year.

 

[dbmill]

Penders post game:

Praise for Caleb Wurster, and he gets the game ball. Held it together on the mound in an inning when things got a bit iffy in the field.