University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
St. John's University
No. 19 HookC Starts BIG EAST Play at St. John's
4/5/2023 8:36:00 PM | Baseball
QUEENS, N.Y. - The No. 19 UConn baseball team (20-7) starts BIG EAST Conference play at St. John's with the series opener on Thursday, April 6 at noon. The Huskies will wrap up the series with a doubleheader on Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. All three games will be streamed on ESPN3 and MIXLR.Â
The Huskies have a target on their back entering BIG EAST play this weekend with the Huskies winning both the regular season and tournament titles the past two seasons since returning to its old home. The Huskies are 29-9 in the league the past two regular seasons with the Huskies losing one series over that stretch (at Georgetown, 2022).Â
UConn is coming off a tough loss to Columbia on Tuesday afternoon. But prior to that, the Huskies closed out a season-long home stand with an 8-1 record. The home stretch featured a pair of three-game sweeps against Rutgers and UMBC. The Huskies averaged 9.11 runs per game during the nine-game stint.Â
The Huskies enter BIG EAST play leading the conference in runs, slugging percentage, on-base percentage, doubles, walks and stolen bases. David Smith leads the league with 36 runs scored while Dominic Freeberger leads the BIG EAST in hits (42) and runs batted in (35).Â
In a series that dates back to 1976, the Huskies are 64-59 against St. John's. In the tightly contested series, UConn is riding its longest winning streak, winning the last five games including a series sweep in Storrs last season. UConn is 26-32 in Queens but the Huskies have won the last two series at Jack Kaiser Stadium including taking three-of-four in 2021.Â
St. John's finished the 2022 season with a 22-32-1 record.and had a 7-12-1 record in the BIG EAST. This season, the Johnnies are 16-10 that feature wins against Old Dominion, Southeastern Louisiana and a series win at Tulane. Its .305 team batting average currently leads the BIG EAST Conference and is 34th in the nation.
Aaron Mann (.392), Marty Higgins (.350) and Tate Ballestero (.340) lead the St. John's offense with the former Virginia transfer, Ballestero, leading the team with six home runs and 26 runs batted in.Â
