UConn @ Texas State Bobcats (Fri. 3/8 @ 7:30p ET, Sat. 3/9 @ 3:30 ET & Sun. 3/10 @ 1p ET)

[BaseballDog]

He has had multiple bombs that either died at the warning track or steered just foul. It was only a matter of time! I kind of want to see more of him, although I like Nucerino too. Both are very different #9 hitters; one is the prototypical pain in the ass, and the other can (potentially) get your team random home runs when you least expect them.

I am more worried about 3B than right field at this point.

Regarding 3B, I like Langer. He seems to have the best combination of defense and offense whereas the other options struggle either offensively or defensively in some way.

 

[dbmill]

Does Maycock see an AB or do they PH?

Maycock is the type of player who will either walk, get an extra base hit, or strikeout (which he does a lot). I followed his stats in summer ball, and it was amazing that way. Of course, he drew a walk in his one batting appearance in this game.

 

[uconnbaseball]

Texas State's pitcher lined up for Sunday has an ERA under 2.00...will be a very difficult game to win.

 

[dbmill]

Regarding 3B, I like Langer. He seems to have the best combination of defense and offense whereas the other options struggle either offensively or defensively in some way.

I suppose Kyler Fedko could end up in the 3B mix as well, especially if either Chiovitti and/or Nucerino start hitting consistently. Fedko got on base twice today, so he is starting to contribute offensively.

 

[businesslawyer]

Should have Dunlop, Wurster, and Gardner after Simeone.

Haus, wurster and Avery should also be available tomorrow. They may be saving Dunlop for U Ha. Texas will also have bullpen issues. Get the sweep

 

[dbmill]

Last time out in his start Simeone had a really good 3 innings. Hopefully this time he can make it 4 or 5 innings before he looses it. I just want to see continued progress for him.

 

[huskymedic]

 

[dbmill]

UConn usually has a 27 player travel roster, meaning on any of these weekend road trips by plane 8 players are left behind in Storrs. I just did a quick count of players who have appeared in the series, plus those Chris Jones said were available to play on the bench. I count 15 position players made the trip (I believe Chris Jones said that Lucas and Brodnansky made the trip and were available in the late innings of today's game, the others having all played including Ben Maycock), meaning 12 pitchers made the trip. 10 pitchers have been used so far. Joe Simeone is starting tomorrow, while I believe I heard Jones say that Angus Mayock was warming in the pen during the final inning tonight as Karl Johnson was getting the save. So it appears Colby Dunlop did not make the trip, and will more than likely get the start against Hartford on Tuesday.

 

[huskymedic]

Neat Texas sky...


“It was not a clinic for hitting in the clutch”... LOL

 

[huskymedic]

Back-to-Back HR's in 12th Lift UConn Past Texas State, 4-1

Notes:

• UConn played its longest games since 2017 when they lost in 12 innings at Tulane (April 15), 6-5.
• Time wise, the four-hour and 36-minute game was the longest since UCF lasted four-hours and 47 minutes in 11 innings at J.O. Christian Field on April 7, 2018.
• Jake Wallace picked up the win in a career-high 3.2 innings pitched.
• Pat Winkel recorded his second-straight three hit game
• Michael Chiovitti's 12th inning home run was the first hit of his UConn career.
• Mike Woodworth extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

YTD Stats through today.

 

[dbmill]

Back-to-Back HR's in 12th Lift UConn Past Texas State, 4-1

Notes:

• UConn played its longest games since 2017 when they lost in 12 innings at Tulane (April 15), 6-5.
• Time wise, the four-hour and 36-minute game was the longest since UCF lasted four-hours and 47 minutes in 11 innings at J.O. Christian Field on April 7, 2018.
• Jake Wallace picked up the win in a career-high 3.2 innings pitched.
• Pat Winkel recorded his second-straight three hit game
• Michael Chiovitti's 12th inning home run was the first hit of his UConn career.
• Mike Woodworth extended his hitting streak to 10 games.

Left out the final note, which left me laughing. These extra inning games must do something to Chris Jones and his sense of humor:

• The Huskies are 1-0 when the opponent's scoreboard doesn't work throughout the game.

 

[dbmill]

The interview with Paul Gozzo has the feel of one of Pender's postgame interviews. Gozzo may have a future in the game as a coach once his playing days are over.

 

[dbmill]

Neat Texas sky...


“It was not a clinic for hitting in the clutch”... LOL

Lots of positive words for Joe Simeone, he has made progress with each appearance, and Penders thinks he can give the team a quality start.

 

[huskymedic]

D1 Baseball - National Notables:
>>Connecticut and Texas State entered the 12th inning tied at 1-1 on Saturday, but the Huskies blew things wide open in the top half of the inning. Paul Gozzo and Michael Chiovitti each hit home runs in the frame, while John Toppa capped it off with an RBI single in a 4-1 victory. The win clinched a series win for the Huskies, who also got a decent performance from Mason Feole, who struggled with command at times, but also tossed 4.1 no-hit innings.<<

 

[businesslawyer]

We will learn something today. Do we let up today coming off a dramatic win that got us a series win in 2? Or do we have the drive to push for starting the NCAA tourney at home?

We will not win 2-1 today. We need the staff (without probably Wallace or Dandenaue (forgive the spelling) to hold them to 5 or 6, and we need the bats to come through early and often.

 

[killerBsaturn]

Woodworth not starting today?

 

[dbmill]

We will learn something today. Do we let up today coming off a dramatic win that got us a series win in 2? Or do we have the drive to push for starting the NCAA tourney at home?

We will not win 2-1 today. We need the staff (without probably Wallace or Dandenaue (forgive the spelling) to hold them to 5 or 6, and we need the bats to come through early and often.

Whether UConn wins today or not, we have already learned a lot this series. A number of these young pitchers who have come out of the bullpen appear to have a future where they are going to be able to make some positive contributions to this team. Still, I expect that they will mix in some bad days as well. As I have said before, hoping it continues today with continued positive development from Joe Simeone, and perhaps others such as Wurster. Also good to see Gardner have a good outing. I'm getting more and more optimistic about the future of this pitching staff, not only for this season, but for future seasons as well.

 

[huskymedic]

Let’s see how Lucas fairs @ third...

 

[dbmill]

Let’s see how Lucas fairs @ third...

Interesting. It seems Penders is taking advantage of the series win to get some time for players (Chiovitti, Brodnansky, and Lucas) who have not seen much action, but wants to see what they can do. As has been said before, the coaching staff is especially high on Will Lucas, so they don't want to see him just languishing on the bench. Also, maybe they feel his previous play at 3B was just a bad day. Do not know if Woodworth is hurt or not, but he has had a busy time this series in center field. At any rate, everyone has said that in terms of position players that this is a deep team, and it would seem that Penders intends to use that depth. Non conference games are also a time to find out just what you have on your team.

 

[businesslawyer]

He has never been a "play everyone" type of manager. I think the fact that, if Maycock pitches today, he will have used 27 of 27 players brought with him for a 3 games series tells us two things. First, he believes that this is the deepest team he's had at UConn. Second, that he's not entirely sure what his best lineup is or who (beyond his top two starters and two relievers) his best pitchers are, and he's giving a number of people longer than he usually does to audition for the jobs.

Having said that, Lucas is going to have to show something with the bat quickly or future chances may be limited to mid-week New England games.

 

[dbmill]

He has never been a "play everyone" type of manager. I think the fact that, if Maycock pitches today, he will have used 27 of 27 players brought with him for a 3 games series tells us two things. First, he believes that this is the deepest team he's had at UConn. Second, that he's not entirely sure what his best lineup is or who (beyond his top two starters and two relievers) his best pitchers are, and he's giving a number of people longer than he usually does to audition for the jobs.

Having said that, Lucas is going to have to show something with the bat quickly or future chances may be limited to mid-week New England games.

I agree. And Lucas is going to have to show something with his glove at 3B as well. Conference play begins in two weeks, generally those are the games where you are not going to experiment unless something is going wrong with the lineup, such as someone is in a prolonged slump and not producing. Generally, the New England games are a time when the lesser used pitchers on the team see some action, including guys such as Jake Sanderson and Randy Polonia who have not been traveling with the team. With the deeper team that could include Lucas at 3B.

 

[dbmill]

He has never been a "play everyone" type of manager.

From what I've seen in the past is that Penders has always relied as much as he can on a set 9 player lineup in the field. We will see if he reverts to this tendency once conference play starts.

 

[dbmill]

Chris Jones says Jake Sanderson made the trip, so I must have heard wrong on Angus Mayock. Sorry about that.

 

[dbmill]

Chris Jones says Woodworth tweeked his hamstring in yesterday's game. Scoreboard at Texas State is working as well, it wasn't operating in yesterday's game.

 

[dbmill]

Top 1st, UConn goes down in order.