University of Connecticut Athletics
Baseball Travels to Rutgers this Weekend
4/28/2011 12:00:00โฏAM | Baseball
April 28, 2011
STORRS, Conn. - The No. 23 UConn baseball team enters the weekend series with a 29-12-1 overall record in 2011 and a 13-2 BIG EAST Conference mark as the Huskies travel to Piscataway, N.J. to take on Rutgers. The three-game series is scheduled to begin on Friday with its series' opener at 3:00 p.m.
ON A ROLL
UConn's current 12-game win streak is the best in the nation. Oklahoma and Georgia Tech hold the record for longest win streak in 2011 but the Huskies stand at the top of the list in current win streaks.
THROWING THE FIRST PITCH
UConn's veterans man the hill for the Huskies this weekend as two of the three starting pitchers for the UConn ballclub have 20 or more career wins, 185 or more career strikeouts and over 200 career innings pitched.
TENTATIVE STARTING PITCHERS
Friday, April 29
Matt Barnes (Jr., RHP, Bethel, Conn.)
21-8, 213.2 IP, 199 K's
Saturday, April 30
Greg Nappo (Sr. LHP, Madison, Conn.)
20-14, 261.2 IP, 189 K's
Sunday, May 1
Brian Ward (Fr., RHP, Milford, Conn.)
2-0, 20.0 IP, 20 K's
THE HITS KEEP COMING
UConn's George Springer is currently on a 21-game hit streak as the Huskies are 19-2 in their last 20 contests. John Andreoli is on a 13-game hit streak for the Huskies as well.
LEADING THE WAY
George Springer has a team-best 55 RBI, 20 doubles and eight home runs to lead the Huskies this season. Nick Ahmed has scored 43 times, a team-best tally, while both Ahmed and Springer have 20 stolen bases on the year.
Mike Nemeth is batting .372 in 42 games with a team-high 61 hits along with 39 RBI. Despite earning two losses in his first two starts of the season, Matt Barnes has won eight straight games and is currently 8-2 on the year with a 0.92 ERA. He struck out a season-high 11 batters in UConn's 3-2 loss to Minnesota (2/19) and has struck out 69 batters on the year.
Mike Nemeth is UConn's all-time leader in hits (299) and doubles (62). Nemeth owns the UConn single-season records for doubles (22), hits (98) runs batted in (84) and games played (64), all of which were tallied in 2010.
George Springer ranks first in runs scored in the UConn career record books with 199. Springer ranks third in home runs with 42 in his career. He is one shy of Jason Grabowski's (1995-97) second-place mark of 43 career homers and two shy of Mike Olt's 44 homers, which is the programs' best tally.
In UConn's single-season record book, Springer owns the top spot in runs scored with 84 and walks with 60, both of which he recorded in 2010.
Kevin Vance ranks fourth in career saves with 15. He is three away from tying Matt Karl's third-place tally of 18 career saves.
BACK IN THE RANKINGS
UConn is back in the rankings this week as the Huskies were tagged as the No. 23 team in the nation according to Baseball America.
HOME SWEET HOME
UConn finished the regular season 19-4 at J.O. Christian Field in 2010. The Huskies are 12-2-1 at home in 2011 after shutting out Quinnipiac 9-0 on Monday afternoon.
ROAD WARRIORS
UConn finished the 2010 regular season with a 21-6 record on the road, while being 3-2 in neutral site games. On the year, the Huskies were 7-4 at neutral sites, which includes 2010 BIG EAST postseason play. In 2011, UConn is 2-6 in neutral site games and 15-4 on an opรยฌponent's home field.
THE BEST OF THE BIG EAST
Since head coach Jim Penders took over the UConn baseball program in 2004, UConn has boasted a record of 106-76-1 in BIG EAST Conference games (including 2011 results).
UConn is currently on top of the BIG EAST Conference standings with a 13-2 record in league play. Pittsburgh is 11-4 and stands in second place, while St. John's is 10-4 on the year in third. UConn swept the Red Storm in earlier April after taking 2-of-3 games from Pittsburgh in its BIG EAST series.
UP NEXT
After the three-game BIG EAST series at Rutgers, UConn will have five days off from games due to final exams before hosting USF on Saturday, May 7 at Dodd Stadium in Norwich. The first game of the three-game series will be played under the lights at Dodd Stadium beginning at 6:30 p.m. in Norwich, Conn. Sunday and Monday's games will be played at J.O. Christian Field in Storrs. The Sunday contest will begin at 2:00 p.m. with the series' finale on Monday, May 9 at 1:00 p.m.
