Untiet's Walk-Off Blast Lists Baseball To Thrilling, 8-7, Win Over Top-Seeded St. John's In BIG EAST Tournament

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BROOKLYN, N.Y. (May 24, 2007) —  University of Connecticut senior first baseman Matt Untiet’s (Berlin, Conn.) walk-off opposite field solo home run over the left-center field wall lifted the Huskies to an, 8-7, come-from behind victory over No. 1 seed St. John’s in an elimination game in the BIG EAST Tournament Thursday evening from KeySpan Park.   

Untiet, who delivered the two-run, game-winning RBI single last Saturday at Notre Dame to clinch UConn’s berth in the BIG EAST Tournament, connected for his third home run of the season to help the Huskies earn their first ever win over the Red Storm in the BIG EAST Tournament. 

Husky junior reliever Matt Karl (Wallingford, Conn.) pitched a scoreless ninth inning to earn his second win of the season.  Freshman starting pitcher Dusty Odenbach (Rochester, N.Y.) worked the first 5-2/3 innings and allowed four runs on 10 hits while striking out four.

Red Strom reliever Colin Lynch (1-1) took the loss after surrendering two runs on two hits in 2-2/3 innings of work.  Starter George Brown allowed two runs on nine hits in 5-1/3 innings of mound duty. 

St. John’s (41-16) plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to jump out to an early 2-0 lead.  Red Storm left fielder Brian Kemp led off the game with a double into right field before second baseman Sam Deluca was hit by a pitch two batters later to put runners on first and second.  On the following play, third baseman Gil Zayas singled up the middle to drive in Kemp from second.  After a fielder’s choice put runners on first and second, center fielder Chris Anninos also singled up the middle to drive in the second run. 

Anninos struck again with an RBI single in the top of the third inning to extend St. John’s lead to 3-0.  Zayas doubled to right field to start the inning and Anninos later drove him in with a single to center field.  Anninos was quickly erased on the base paths as Untiet cut the throw to the plate and fired a strike to second baseman Dale Brannon (St. Petersburg, Fla.).  Brannon quickly applied the tag as Anninos attempted to take second on center fielder Gordon Stevens’ (Vista, Calif.) throw home. 

Connecticut (31-27) was the beneficiary of bad luck in the bottom of the fourth inning as the Huskies appeared to produce a promising inning.  Senior shortstop Dennis Donovan (Center Moriches, N.Y.) led off the frame with a single to left field before Untiet followed with a single of his own to left field to put runners on first and second.  On the following play, junior third baseman Pat Mahoney (Des Moines, Iowa) took three consecutive balls from Brown before taking a strike and fouling a pitch back to run the count full.  On the next pitch, Mahoney swung and missed as the Huskies had the double steal play on.  Red Strom catcher Brendan Monaghan decided to throw to second rather than attempting to retire the lead runner at third.  Both runners were initially called safe, but Mahoney was then called for batter’s interference, resulting in an out call on Untiet.  UConn designated hitter Brad Olt (Branford, Conn.) grounded out on the following play to end the inning. 

UConn’s run of bad luck continued in the top of the fifth inning as the Red Strom tacked on another run to up its lead to 4-0.  Right fielder Anthony Smith delivered a two-out single up the middle before stealing second base to advance into scoring position.  Anninos next laced a sharp single into right field for his third hit of the evening.  Husky right fielder Josh Farkes (Boston, Mass.) fired a strike to the plate in an attempt to retire a streaking Smith rounding third.  Husky senior catcher Larry Day (Amesbury, Mass.), blocking the plate with anticipation of a close play, caught and held onto the ball as Smith collided into him on the line just to the left of the plate.  The run, however, was awarded to St. John’s as Day was called for obstruction. 

The Huskies scored their first run of the game in the bottom of the fifth inning to cut the lead to 4-1.  Farkes led off the inning with a double down the right field line before Stevens recorded a bunt single on the infield to put runners on the corners.  Farkes came around to score on the following play when freshman Pete Fatse (Hampden, Mass.) grounded into a double play. 

In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Huskies continued to chip away at the St. John’s lead as Donovan blasted a solo home run over the replica of the famous cyclone rollercoaster on top of the scoreboard in left field for his team-leading ninth round-tripper of the season to leave UConn trailing by only two runs. 

Red Storm designated hitter Ryan Mahoney gave St. John’s its four-run lead back with a two-run double into the left field corner in the top of the seventh inning. 

Connecticut answered by scoring five runs in the bottom of the seventh inning to take a 7-6 lead.  Karl, pinch hitting for Olt, singled down the left field line before Farkes was hit by a pitch to put the first two runners on base.  Stevens followed by lacing a triple into deep center field to plate both runners.  After Fatse walked to put runners on the corners, Brannon laid down a fielder’s choice bunt to drive in Stevens.  Red Strom reliever Justin Gutsie elected to throw home, but Stevens slid under the tag, allowing Brannon to also reach first base safely.  Day then sacrificed both runners up one base on a bunt, while Donovan was next intentionally walked to load the bases.  Untiet next drew a walk to tie the game at six runs apiece, while Mahoney followed by driving in the go-ahead run with a groundout to the right side. 

Deluca tied the game at seven runs apiece with an RBI single up the middle in the top of the eighth inning. 

Donovan finished the game with a team-high three hits, while both Untiet and Stevens turned in 2-for-4 showings with a pair of RBIs. 

UConn returns to the diamond Friday afternoon at 1:00 p.m. to take on fifth-seeded South Florida.  Since the Bulls have yet to lose a game in the tournament, UConn must win two games against USF in order to qualify for the championship game.  Earlier this season, USF won two of three games with the Huskies from J.O. Christian Field.  UConn’s lone win in the series came in the game started by UConn freshman Greg Nappo (Madison, Conn.).  Nappo is expected to start Friday for the Huskies. 

 -UCONN-