Back-to-Back HR's in 12th Lift UConn Past Texas State, 4-1

Saturday, March 9

San Marcos, TX - Bobcat Park

3:30 PM

University of Connecticut

7-5

Texas State University

9-6

UConn

Texas State

Back-to-Back HR's in 12th Lift UConn Past Texas State, 4-1

3/9/2019 8:51:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

SAN MARCOS, Texas – The UConn baseball team gutted out a 4-1 win in 12 innings on Saturday afternoon at Bobcat Ballpark to take the first two games of its series at Texas State.

The four-hour and 36-minute ballgame ended after Paul Gozzo and Michael Chiovitti hit back-to-back home runs in the 12^th to give UConn its first runs since the first inning. John Toppa tacked on an RBI single in the frame to push the lead to 4-1.

Jacob Wallace earned the win with a career-high 3.2 innings of shutout ball with just one hit allowed. Wallace kept the Huskies alive in the 10^th inning when the Bobcats placed runners at first and third with just one out. With the game-winning run just 90 feet away, Wallace induced a pop up to Prato in shallow centerfield and a flyout to left to push the game onward.

Karl Johnson notched his first career save with a scoreless 12^th inning. The redshirt freshman got into trouble with runners at the corner and no outs but a strikeout and great defensive play by Chris Winkel resulted in a game-ending 3-6 double play.

Mason Feole made his second start of the season and was solid for the Huskies with 4.1 hitless innings on 74 pitches. The left-hander allowed three walks and struck out a pair without allowing a run.

UConn scored first for the second-straight day on a sacrifice fly off the bat of John Toppa in the first inning.

The game remained 1-0 UConn until the sixth inning when the Bobcats tied the game up on a throwing error from third baseman Thad Phillips. With runners at second and third and no outs the UConn bullpen buckled down.

Chase Gardner came out of the pen and coaxed a pop up to short and a strikeout to notch the first two outs of the inning. CJ Dandeneau finished the inning off with a strikeout to preserve the tie, 1-1.

Notes

UConn played its longest games since 2017 when they lost in 12 innings at Tulane (April 15), 6-5.
Time wise, the four-hour and 36-minute game was the longest since UCF lasted four-hours and 47 minutes in 11 innings at J.O. Christian Field on April 7, 2018.
Jake Wallace picked up the win in a career-high 3.2 innings pitched.
Pat Winkel recorded his second-straight three hit game
Michael Chiovitti's 12^th inning home run was the first hit of his UConn career.
Mike Woodworth extended his hitting streak to 10 games.
The Huskies are 1-0 when the opponent's scoreboard doesn't work throughout the game.