Baseball Hosts Notre Dame for Regular Season Finale

May 17, 2012

Complete Game Notes (PDF) | Audio: WTIC WHUS | Twitter: @UConnBaseball

STORRS, Conn. - UConn wraps up the 2012 regular season with a home series against Notre Dame. Game two will be played at New Britain Stadium, Friday night, while the Huskies return to J.O. Christian Field for "Senior Day" on Saturday.

On the Air... In addition to 91.7 FM WHUS and WHUS.org, Friday's action can be streamed on WTIC.com with Joe D'Ambrosio, play-by-play voice of UConn football and men's basketball, calling the action.

About the Huskies... Connecticut dropped from a tie for second in the BIG EAST to fifth place entering the final week of the regular season. The Huskies are 27-24-1 overall and 14-10 in the league. Last week, UConn was swept in conference play for the first time since 2009. Connecticut is 4-8-1 in its last 13 games heading down the stretch. Redshirt-junior center fielder Billy Ferriter snapped a 0-15 hitless streak with a base hit against Rhode Island (5/15), but has seen his average drop to 23 points to .340. He is tied for the team-lead in runs scored with junior second baseman LJ Mazzilli with 40. Mazzilli is hitting .325 with nine home runs and 36 RBI, though his last homer came at St. John's (4/15). On the mound, sophomore LHP Anthony Marzi (2-7, 2.79 ERA) has been UConn's most consistent starter, tossing three complete games this season. Out of the pen, redshirt-junior Scott Oberg has impressed at 5-0 with a 1.20 ERA.

Last Time Out... UConn played to a 2-2 draw against URI at Dodd Stadium on Tuesday. The game went into a two-hour rain delay with two outs and the bases empty in the top of the ninth before it was called. It was the Huskies' first tie since a 2-2 game against Holy Cross (3/22/11). For head coach Jim Penders, it was his fourth career tie and 30th in progam history. Junior RHP Pat Butler pitched six innings, allowed two runs and struck out three. Connecticut outhit Rhode Island, 7-4, but left 10 runners on base.

Scouting the Irish... Notre Dame, currently seventh in the BIG EAST, enters the weekend at 28-23 and 13-11. Junior catcher Joe Hudson leads the Fighting Irish with a .358 average to go with six home runs and 36 RBI. As a team, Notre Dame has hit 33 home runs, led by sophomores Trey Mancini with 12 and Eric Jagielo with 11. Both players are batting .320 on the season. Senior RHP Will Hudgins (4-2, 2.21) will take the mound in game one, followed by freshman RHP Pat Connaughton (4-2, 2.02) and junior RHP Adam Norton (4-4, 4.41).

All-Time vs. ND... Notre Dame leads the all-time series with Connecticut, which began when the Irish joined the BIG EAST in 1996, 15-24-1. Notre Dame won 11 straight games from 2003-2006, but the Huskies are 9-5-1 since. The two teams split a doubleheader on April 6, 1996 in the first-ever meeting, including a 10-9 win for UConn.

Last Time They Met... UConn defeated ND twice in three days at last year's BIG EAST Tournament. The Huskies knocked out the Irish with a 9-3 win in the third day of competition. Connecticut scored three runs in the first two innings, before Notre Dame tied the game with three in the fifth. Three straight doubles, the last by Nick Ahmed scored two, in the sixth, put the Huskies on top for good. Brian Ward won his fifth game of the year, while David Fischer pitched 3.1 scoreless innings in relief.

TWI(UConn)B History... Connecticut took two out of three from Pittsburgh in the final weekend of the 2003 season and defeated the Panthers, 10-4 in coach Andy Baylock's final game. Pitt took the lead in the seventh, but UConn came back with four runs in the bottom half, taking the lead on a two-run single by Tyler Stefkovich.

Up Next... The Huskies head to Clearwater, Fla. for their fourth consecutive trip to the BIG EAST Tournament.

Bullpen Bulldog... Oberg has pitched 30.0 innings out of the bullpen in 17 appearances after sitting out the 2011 season due to Tommy John surgery. This season, Oberg assumed the role of closer and has nailed down six saves. He is also the team leader in wins with a perfect 5-0 record. Oberg is just the second pitcher to post five wins without making a start since 1990. He also accomplished this feat in 2010 when he went 5-2.

For the Record... Ferriter continues to climb the UConn record book and sits third all-time in career steals with 71 and moved into ninth in career hits at 208. With a double on Tuesday, Mazzilli pulled into a tie for fourth in career doubles at 50 with Pierre LePage.

MiLB Update... Currently, 13 former Huskies are on Minor League rosters. George Springer homered in four straight at-bats over two games last weekend for Lancaster (A-Adv.). He is hitting .421 in the last 10 games with five HR and 11 RBI. Greg Nappo of Greensboro (A) holds a 1.33 ERA and has struck out 21 in 20.1 innings of relief.

University of Connecticut Athletics

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Players Mentioned

Nick Ahmed

Billy Ferriter

David Fischer

Pierre LePage

Anthony Marzi

LJ Mazzilli

Greg Nappo

Scott Oberg

George Springer

Brian Ward

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