University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Xavier University
No. 20 #HookC Heads to No. 30 Xavier For BIG EAST Showdown
4/13/2023 9:49:00 PM | Baseball
CINCINNATI - The No. 20 UConn baseball team (24-8, 2-1 BIG EAST) head to first place and No. 30 ranked Xavier (21-12, 3-0 BIG EAST) for a three-game series at Hayden Field beginning Friday, April 14 at 3 p.m. Saturday's game is scheduled for 1 p.m. and Sunday's series finale is set to begin at 11 a.m. Friday and Saturday's games will be streamed on FloSports and Sunday's game will be on BIG EAST Digital Network. All three games can be heard on MIXLR with Chris Jones on the call.
The Huskies enter this weekend's series winners of 14 of its last 17 games while Xavier holds the nation's longest win streak by winning 11 in a row.Â
 Since returning to the BIG EAST, UConn and Xavier have developed a rivalry with close games and the two teams competing against each other in the past two BIG EAST tournament championships. The Huskies went 3-1 against the Musketeers in 2022 by winning a series in Storrs and taking the BIG EAST Championship game crown for the second-straight year.Â
In 2021, the two teams played a best-of-seven series with the two team splitting a pair of game in Cincinnati. A series that featured the Huskies coming back from a 9-2 deficit in the 8th inning to win in 12 innings and Xavier hitting a walk-off three-run homer by Alex Helmin to secure a series split. Then the two team squared off in the BIG EAST Championship three times including a win in Game 7 of the tournament to secure the BIG EAST Tournament title. Â
The Huskies will shift up the weekend rotation due to injury this week. The Huskies will have left-hander Andrew Sears start the series opener, right-hander Jack Sullivan start game two and Stephen Quigley pitch the series finale.
UConn closer Justin Willis is sitting at 21 saves during his three seasons in Storrs. The West New York, N.J. native is currently tied with Kevin Vance (2009-11) for second all-time and is one away from tying Mike James (2001-04) for the program record.
The Huskies come into the weekend ranking 10th in the country with a .981 fielding percentage and 27th in the country in scoring with 8.5 runs per game.
Jake Studley is the reigning BIG EAST Player of the Week after going 7-14 against St. John's last weekend in Queens. The outfielder registered a pair of doubles, a home run and six RBIs.Â
