No. 15 HookC Rallies Back In Ninth, Wins In Extras

Friday, April 29

Indianapolis, IN

4:00 PM

University of Connecticut

35-8, 0

Butler University

18-24-1, 0

Connecticut

Butler

4/29/2022 9:44:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 15 UConn baseball team (35-8, 9-1 BIG EAST) rallied back from a 7-4 deficit in the ninth to win 8-7 in 10 innings against Butler (18-24-1, 2-7-1 BIG EAST) on Friday afternoon at Bulldog Park.

Matt Garbowski and David Smith sparked the ninth inning rally with back-to-back single to open the frame. Pinch hiiter Kevin Ferrer ripped a ball past the third baseman into left field to plate a run and plate runners at first and third.

Erik Stock followed with a single to right to make it a 7-6 ballgame and put runners at the corners with no outs. After a pop out, Casey Dana, three days after getting 26 stiches in his left arm, sent a fly ball to the warning track to tie the game, 7-7.

Jack Sullivan put together an outstanding performance with 2.1 perfect innings that featured four strikeouts and led to the first career win for the true freshman.

Smith gave UConn the lead in the 10th with his second home run of the game, an inside-the-park-homer, that made it 8-7 Huskies in the 10th. Its the second multi-homer game for the UConn second baseman.

ARE YOU KIDDING???? pic.twitter.com/YtTC5TLNsW
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) April 29, 2022

Justin Willis came on and secured his 11th save of the season with a scoreless 10th inning.

Smith hit his first home run of the game in the fourth, a long solo shot out to the right field that gave UConn a 3-2 at the time. Smith recorded his first career four-hit game as a Husky.

UConn got on the board in the third with a pair of two-out RBI from Casey Dana (single) and Zach Bushling (double).

Next up, the Huskies will look to take the series on Saturday at 1 p.m.

Game Notes

The comeback in the ninth was the first for UConn since coming back to beat Coastal Carolina, 5-4, in 12 innings on March 7, 2021.
The Huskies scored three runs in the ninth inning to send the game to extras for the first time since 2017 when Jack Sundberg hit a bases-clearing double to tie the game against Houston (5/5/2017).
UConn is 5-0 in extra-innings and has won all five games in the 10th inning.
The Huskies are 11-0 in weekend openers this season.
UConn is 9-3 in one-run games this season.
Justin Willis tied Caleb Wurster for ninth all-time with 12 career saves.