University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Michigan State University
BSB Face Michigan State in Greenville
3/14/2019 6:37:00 PM | Baseball
Friday, March 15 vs Michigan State 5 p.m. EST | Fluor Field
(Mason Feole (0-0) vs. Mason Erla (1-2)) Links: 91.7 FM WHUS/ WHUS.org | Live Stats
Saturday, March 16 vs Michigan State 1 p.m. EST | Fluor Field
(Jeff Kersten (2-0) vs. Mike Momka (1-1)) Links: 91.7 FM WHUS /WHUS.org | Live Stats
Saturday, March 16 vs Michigan State 5 p.m. EST | Fluor Field
(Kenny Haus (0-0) vs. Jarrett Olson (0-1)) Links: 91.7 FM WHUS /WHUS.org | Live Stats
Sunday, March 17 vs Michigan State 11 a.m. EST | Fluor Field
(Jimmy Wang (0-1) vs. Mitchell Tyranski (0-2)) Links: 91.7 FM WHUS /WHUS.org | Live Stats
GREENVILLE, S.C. – The UConn baseball team travels back to the Palmetto state for a four-game series against Michigan State at Fluor Field, home of the Greenville Drive, the Single-A affiliate of the Boston Red Sox.
NCAA.com has the Huskies (No.11) and the Spartans (No. 8) ranked highly in strength of schedule for the early part of the season. UConn sits at 7-6 while Michigan State is 3-10.
History vs. Michigan State... UConn is 1-4 all-time against the Spartans and most recently played Michigan State in 2015 in Greenville, S.C. Jon Testani hit a go-ahead, two-run homer in the ninth inning to propel the Huskies to a win.
Pat Ruotolo picked up the win out of the bullpen by stranding runners at second and third in the eighth inning and then retired the side in order in the ninth.
Feeling it at Fluor... The Huskies are 4-0 at Fluor Field all-time with trips in 2013 and 2015. In 2015, the Huskies beat Furman, USC Upstate and Michigan State at the home of the Greenville Drive. UConn blew out Presbyterian, 13-2 in 2013 and Billy Ferriter set the UConn stolen base record with a steal in that contest, finishing with 100 career steals.
Back-to-Back Lifts Huskies in 12th... The Huskies clinched a series-win at Texas State last weekend with the help of back-to-back home runs from Paul Gozzo and Michael Chiovitti. The home runs propelled the Huskies to a 4-1 victory in the Huskies longest game since 2017. It was the first time the Huskies had hit back-to-back homers since Isaac Feldstein and Thad Phillips went back-to-back against Wichita State last season (April 13).
Short Stints For Starters…The UConn starting rotation has struggled to eat up innings for the Huskies the first few weeks of the season with starters averaging under 4.0 innings per start. With the short starts, the UConn bullpen has thrown 66 of a possible 116 innings (59.6%). UConn has received strong outings from Jeff Kersten (22 innings) and Friday Night Ace, Mason Feole, is continuing to build on his workload after returning from injury with 4.1 innings last time out.
Baby Wink.. Freshman catcher Pat Winkel was locked in at the plate against Texas State last weekend, going 7-12 (.583 AVG) at the plate. The Orange, Conn. native is hitting .333 in eight start this season and is second in the nation with four sacrifice flies this season.
Rooting for Randy... Redshirt junior Randy Polonia has not pitched since a stellar freshman season in 2016. The Stamford, Conn. native recorded six saves and last pitched against No. 1 Florida on June 4 in the NCAA Tournament. Polonia had Tommy John surgery after the 2016 season that made him miss the 2017 season and last year had a setback while rehabbing that shut him down for 2018 season. Polonia is traveling for the first time this season and if he were to pitch on Friday, it would be 1014 days since he last took the mound in a competitive game.
