UConn-VT Rematch Thread

[UConnDan97]

Tough way to go out of the tourney. We beat them by three runs two days ago, and they beat us by two runs today, which equals us going home. Uggh. And to think that bringing home that 4th run last night would have us still in the winners bracket...

My hat's off to the boys; they showed a lot of heart and represented us well in the tourney. Proud of our Huskies...

 

[CL82]

Well close. They played well. I wish better for the seniors, but the bulk of this team is very young. They'll be back.

 

[zls44]

Tough ending to a hell of a run. Young team, too. Lots to build on.

 

[dbmill]

Well, so much for this baseball season. After the disappointing regular season, winning the Big East tournament and just getting to the NCAA's and winning a game there was truly an unexpected pleasure.

 

[Bezzz]

Thank you Huskies. So close. I love baseball, here's a pic of me in college, way way back in the day.

 

[Gurleyman]

The bummer is we got a weak one seed in our bracket and really had a chance. This game from Marzi and the pen would have likely been good enough to beat whatever slop OU or VT had left and win the regional (perhaps - maybe their #4 starter would have thrown a gem). Alas, no clutch hits over the last 17 innings* - only a run scored without a hit in the eighth yesterday, and a sac bunt thrown away today.

*Melley's bullet double play yesterday was a clutch swing, but bad luck.

 

[huskymedic]

Well we made it interesting. In the end, the boneheaded decision in the 5th cost us the season.

I think Penders is a good coach and good for the program. He has built a good program on the verge.

I also think like all managers (in sports and in life) they make decisions that impact others and then loose sleep over them. That will clearly be one of them. Man enough to admit it.

AmoreCourant 6:24pm via Web
Jim Penders: "we deserved a better 3rd base coach than we had in the 5th inning ... that's on me, and I told the guys that," #uconnbaseball

 

[huskymedic]

Blacksburg Regional (@NCAABBurg)
6/2/13, 10:11 PM
All-Tourn. Team: c Hermelyn OU, 1b Melley UConn, 2b Lorenzana OU, ss Pinder VT, 3b Rash VT #CWS

Blacksburg Regional (@NCAABBurg)
6/2/13, 10:11 PM
All-Tourn. Team cont: of White OU, of Zagunis VT, of Horan VT, p Gray OU, p Burke VT, dh Wernicki VT, MOP White OU #CWS

Congrats Bobby Melley...

 

[dbmill]

I think Penders is a good coach and good for the program. He has built a good program on the verge.

I also think like all managers (in sports and in life) they make decisions that impact others and then loose sleep over them. That will clearly be one of them. Man enough to admit it.

AmoreCourant 6:24pm via Web
Jim Penders: "we deserved a better 3rd base coach than we had in the 5th inning ... that's on me, and I told the guys that," #uconnbaseball

Agreed. Penders drives me crazy with some of his moves, that is true. But there is no doubt he has done a tremendous job at building this program, a program that he passionately cares so much about. UConn baseball was stuck in neutral for many years before he got the job. The program has clearly moved ahead.

 

[rw005]

Agreed. Penders drives me crazy with some of his moves, that is true. But there is no doubt he has done a tremendous job at building this program, a program that he passionately cares so much about. UConn baseball was stuck in neutral for many years before he got the job. The program has clearly moved ahead.

Penders should upgrade the schedule a bit though, not too fond of the Bryants, Northeasterns, and the Holy Cross', would be nice to play some of those Southern schools again like we did with Presbyterian and Sam Houston, maybe 3 game set against an SEC team or PAC 10-12?

Nonetheless, he's done a good job. Looking forward to 2014!

 

[huskymedic]

Penders should upgrade the schedule a bit though, not too fond of the Bryants, Northeasterns, and the Holy Cross', would be nice to play some of those Southern schools again like we did with Presbyterian and Sam Houston, maybe 3 game set against an SEC team or PAC 10-12?

Nonetheless, he's done a good job. Looking forward to 2014!

You mean the Bryant team who had a nice little run in the CWS You need close games for those single mid-week OOC games in btwn the weekend conference games. Remember we pick up a new set of games with Houston and UCF who normally field decent teams.

UConn is rumored to have a 3 game series w/ the Florida Gators on tap for next year.

 

[rw005]

You mean the Bryant team who had a nice little run in the CWS You need close games for those single mid-week OOC games in btwn the weekend conference games. Remember we pick up a new set of games with Houston and UCF who normally field decent teams.

UConn is rumored to have a 3 game series w/ the Florida Gators on tap for next year.

I just want teams like Brown and Holy Cross eliminated from the schedule, if we replaced those two with teams like Army (Sottolano seems to be building them into a Patriot League contender each year now) and some top teams from the Colonial Conference, it'd be very good.

Bryant is a mixed bag to me, but I think the more we do play them, the more confidence they can get, which is actually a good thing. Yes we have new conference members, I'm pretty excited to see Memphis compete with us, just want us to compete even more, show teams we can play with the best, even if it means getting swept.

Overall, it's just my opinion, either way still proud of Penders

 

[TouchdownHusky]

Disappointing weekend. Great win over Virginia Tech on Friday. Always, always, nice to beat ACC teams in any sport. But even in victory, the seeds of disappointment were beginning to emerge. How difficult were those last three innings - a 4 to 1 lead (the 5-1) never seemed so much in danger.

Overall for the weekend, the starting pitching was terrific. The relief pitching? Low grades for creating problems (putting lead off hitters on, HBPs, etc.). Very high grades for the guts to pitch out of jams again and again. They just didn't give in.

The defense? Adequate to good.

The offense? What offense? Big hitters didn't hit. Bottom of the order, even worse. Three innings in the Oklahoma game, UConn had runners on base and could have had a walk off win . . . . and nothing. No clutch hits, swinging at pitches out of the strike zone (when you're not hitting well, take pitches to force the opposing pitcher to bring his deliveries closer to the plate, don't chase pitches). Ineffective bunting (very different from Virginia Tech on Sunday). Slow on the base paths (not really effective in stealing bases). Not smart on steal attempts . . . .late in Oklahoma game Mazzilli had great jump towards second and batter chased a pitch out of the strike zone and fouled it off. Protect the runner? Yes. But just wave at the pitch low and away, don't foul it off.

Better hitting and UConn was in the drivers seat.