University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Minnesota
Huskies Fall to Minnesota 3-2
2/19/2011 12:00:00 AM | Baseball
Feb. 19, 2011
CLEARWATER, Fla. - The UConn baseball team dropped its second straight contest in the BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge as the Huskies fell to Minnesota 3-2 on Saturday evening in Clearwater.
Minnesota (1-1) used a two-run sixth inning to take a 3-1 lead and were able to pull away at the end with the one-run victory over the Huskies (0-2) as UConn's rally in the final innings came up short.
UConn struck early in today's contest as the Huskies scored the first run of the ballgame in the top of the first inning as John Andreoli scored on a wild pitch with two outs in the frame. Andreoli started the game with a leadoff double down the left field line before advancing to third on a sacrifice bunt by Nick Ahmed.
Matt Barnes (0-1) came out of the gates looking strong as he struck out the first two batters he faced, retiring the side as he forced a ground out to short to end the first inning. The junior recorded seven strikeouts in the opening three innings as 21 of his first 30 pitches were strikes. On the night, Barnes struck out 11 of 24 batters faced, gave up three hits and two earned runs in six innings of work.
In the bottom of the third inning, Barnes walked Minnesota's David Bettenburg, who later advanced to second on a balk. A two-out double by AJ Pettersen tied the game at one as Bettenburg scored from second to give the Gophers their first run of the ballgame.
In the bottom of the sixth inning, the Gophers loaded the bases with one out for Trip Schultz, who hit a grounder to short. The Huskies were able to get the force out at second but an error on the throw to first allowed two Gophers to score to give Minnesota a 3-1 lead.
In the top of the seventh, UConn got a run back as LJ Mazzilli picked up his second hit of the night before advancing to third on a hit-and-run single by Ryan Fuller to put runners on the corners with one out. Freshman Mike Friel followed with an RBI single to right field to mark the first RBI of his collegiate career. A strike out then a fly out to center ended the Huskies' rally in the seventh. UConn was hitless in the final two innings as the Gophers' were able to slip away with the win.
Minnesota's Phil Isaksson pitched five innings for the win and gave up three hits and one unearned run, while he walked two and struck out three.
Dan Feehan threw 1.2 innings for the Huskies as he allowed one hit and struck out one. Freshman Brian Ward made his collegiate debut as he struck out his lone batter faced.
Mazzilli finished the night 2-for-3 with one run scored and one walk. He was the only Husky to record a multiple-hit game, while George Springer, Andreoli, Fuller and Friel all tallied one hit a piece as the Huskies out-hit the Gophers 6-4.
Minnesota finished with three errors in the ballgame and left five runners on base, while UConn committed two errors and stranded six.
UConn will conclude BIG EAST/Big Ten Challenge play on Sunday against Michigan. Game time is set for 10:00 a.m. at Jack Russell Stadium in Clearwater.
