University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
17-9, 4-2
University of Central Florida
17-11, 1-5
HookC Run-Rule UCF to Take Series, 10-0
3/31/2019 4:56:00 PM | Baseball
ORLANDO, Fla. – The UConn baseball team pounded out a season-high 16 hits en route to a 10-0 mercy-rule victory against UCF to win the series at John Euliano Park. The game ended after seven innings due to a league-mandated mercy-rule of 10 runs or more on a travel day.
Jimmy Wang earned his first victory as a Husky with a career-high five scoreless innings of work. The right-hander allowed just three hits, walked two and struck out a pair.
The UConn offense jolted to life after only 11 hits and four runs scored in the first two games of the series. John Toppa (3-5) got the offense going in the first with one of his two doubles on the day. Toppa eventually came around to score on an RBI single from Chris Winkel to make it 1-0 Huskies.
The Huskies land a knockout blow to capture the series in Orlando!
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) March 31, 2019
Coach Penders with his thoughts on the series finale.https://t.co/9GSyNLlCU4
The Huskies continued to apply pressure with a pair of runs in the second and a five-run frame in the third. Thad Phillips (2-5, 3 RBI) and Anthony Prato (3-4, 3 RBI) both homered in the third to break the game open, 8-0.
Six Huskies contributed multi-hit games and every UConn batter reached at least once. Chase Gardner and Joe Simeone each logged a scoreless inning of relief.
Anthony Nucerino (1-4, 2 RBI) recorded his first career triple in the sixth to bring around David Langer (1-2, 2B, 2 BB) from first base to extend the UConn lead to 9-0.
The Huskies have won four-straight series and two road American Conference series to move to 17-9 overall and 4-2 in The American. The Huskies return home for a five-game home stand this week, beginning Tuesday, April 2 at 3 p.m. against Fairfield at J.O. Christian Field.
Notes
- The Huskies have won eight of its last nine American Conference series and won five-straight road conference series dating back to 2018.
- UConn is 13-8 all-time against the Knights. The Huskies have won five of their six series against the Knights.
- In its first opportunity of the season, the Huskies won a series when dropping the first game. UConn did that on five occasions in 2018.
- The Huskies recorded a season-high 16 hits in just seven at-bats.
- The Husky pitching staff recorded its first shutout of the season.
Team Stats
Pitching:
W: Wang, Jimmy (1-1)
L: Whitehead, J (2-1)
Batting:
2B: Toppa, John 2 ; Fedko, Kyler 1 ; Langer, David 1
3B: Nucerino, Anthony 1
HR: Prato, Anthony 1 ; Phillips, Thad 1
RBI: Woodworth, Michael 1 ; Prato, Anthony 3 ; Winkel, Chris 1 ; Phillips, Thad 3 ; Nucerino, Anthony 2
Base Running:
RUNS: Woodworth, Michael 1 ; Prato, Anthony 1 ; Toppa, John 1 ; Winkel, Chris 1 ; Fedko, Kyler 1 ; Phillips, Thad 2 ; Langer, David 2 ; Nucerino, Anthony 1
CS: Woodworth, Michael 1
Batting:
2B: Beaver, D. 1
Base Running:
HBP: Beaver, D. 1 ; Robertson, C 1
