Feb. 24, 2012
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STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut baseball team returns south for three games at the Cougar Invitational, hosted by the College of Charleston this weekend. Competition gets underway with a 1:00 pm first pitch against Xavier on Friday afternoon.
About the Huskies... UConn opened the 2012 season with a 1-2 showing at the Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge a week ago. The Huskies lone win came in the season opener, an 8-0 shutout of Indiana. Sophomore LHP Brian Ward pitched 7.1 innings out shutout baseball, allowing just four hits and striking out five. At the plate, senior first baseman Ryan Fuller and sophomore shortstop Tom Verdi each drove in four runs, while Fuller batted .556 for the weekend. Freshman left fielder Eric Yavarone was impressive in his collegiate debut, batting .571 with three walks and a pair of runs. The Huskies' bullpen, perhaps the team's most experienced group, struggled in the season's opening weekend taking the loss against both Purdue and Ohio State. In six innings of work, the bullpen allowed 11 runs, 10 earned, for a 15.00 ERA. Junior Ryan Moore appeared in both center field and on the mound last weekend. The righty toed the rubber for 1.2 innings against the Hoosiers and allowed just one base runner on a walk and struck out three. At the plate, Moore went 1-3 with a double and a run scored.
2011 Cougar Invitational... The Huskies opened the weekend with an 18-3 loss to Rhode Island, but responded with a 3-1 win over host Charleston. No. 19 UConn defeated No. 20 CofC behind seven innings from righty Matt Barnes. Barnes registered eight strikeouts and allowed just one unearned run. LJ Mazzilli went 3-4 with a run in the win over the Cougars. The invitational concluded with a 6-3 loss to Southern Mississippi. For the weekend, Mike Nemeth batted .273 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Scouting the Field... All three opponents won 30 games or more in 2011. Xavier got off to a 1-2 start against No. 3 North Carolina, upsetting the Tar Heels 10-4 in game two of an opening day doubleheader. Last season, the Musketeers finished fourth in the Atlantic-10 and produced an overall record of 30-27. Junior second baseman Seth Willoughby, who batted .326 with 36 RBI last season, went 5-9 with five runs, a homerun and two RBI in the opening weekend. Freshman catcher Derek Hasenbeck made an immediate impact with five runs batted in and two doubles, while going 5-7. Charleston opened on the road with a three-game sweep at South Alabama. The Cougars, 39-22 in 2011 and third in the Southern Conference, are ranked 29th in the Collegiate Baseball Top 30. Senior outfielder Marty Gantt, a .329 hitter a year ago, went 6-11 with five runs scored and two driven in vs. USA. Junior RHP Christian Powell, owner of an 8-1 record and 3.09 ERA in 2011, pitched six shutout innings and gave up just two hits in game three of the season-opening series. Rhode Island enters the invitational 1-2, following a three-game set at William & Mary that included a 4-3 win and a pair of 2-1 losses. Last season, the Rams finished second in the A-10 and 31-22 overall. Redshirt-senior OF Greg Annarummo hit .341 last year with 34 runs and 34 RBI and is off to a 3-10 start with two doubles. Senior lefty Anthony Pisani earned URI's lone win with a five-inning, four-strikeout effort.
Old-Time Rivals... Neighbors, Connecticut and Rhode Island face-off for the 184th time in series history on Sunday. The two teams first met in 1896, the first season of UConn baseball, a 22-6 win for URI. In the 183 prior meetings, the most for the Huskies against any opponent, Connecticut leads the series 107-73-3.
Weekly Awards... Ward was named the BIG EAST Pitcher of the Week for the week ending February 19. In an 8-0 win over Indiana, Ward went 7.1 innings, shutting out the Hoosiers and allowing just four hits, while striking out five.
Back in Action... Redshirt-senior Joe Pavone and redshirt-junior RHP Scott Oberg returned to the mix after sitting out 2011 due to injuries. Pavone batted 3-10 in the season's opening weekend, while catching all 23 innings of action. Out of the bullpen, Oberg's first appearance in over a year was a forgetful one. He registered two outs and gave up three runs on one hit and four walks.
Up Next... Connecticut pays a visit to Starkville, Miss. for back-to-back games against Mississippi State on March 2 and 3, preceded and followed by games against Lipscomb on March 2 and 4.
Season Openers... UConn snapped a streak of six straight losses on opening day with an 8-0 shutout vs. Indiana on February 17. In the Jim Penders era, Connecticut is 2-7 in season openers, with the only other win a 10-7 road win at Belmont on February 25, 2005. Since the Huskies joined the BIG EAST, they are 9-19 in season openers.
TWI(UConn)B History... In 2006, the Huskies opened the season with a three-game set at Florida Atlantic. The Owls took the first game with a 1-0 win, but UConn came back for a 2-0 win in game two of a doubleheader on February 25. Rich Sirois went six innings and Mike Tarsi and David Erickson finished the game, supported by a two-out RBI single by Larry Day, to combine for the shutout. Connecticut took the final game of the series by a score of 9-1. Austin Wasserman led the UConn offense with a 4-5 effort, a homerun and five RBI.
Stadium Enhancement... In January, the Division of Athletics announced that funds for stadium enhancement/construction have been established for baseball, soccer and softball. Plans for a major upgrade to J.O. Christian Field were revealed at the 2012 Baseball Preseason Dinner.
