Dalena 3 HR's, Cooke 14 K's Leads HookC vs. St. John's

Friday, April 12

Storrs, CT

6:05 PM

University of Connecticut

15-16, 0

St. John's

22-6-1, 0

St. John's

Connecticut

4/12/2024 11:14:00 PM | Baseball

Box Score

STORRS, Conn. - The UConn baseball team (15-16, 3-1 BIG EAST) received a pair of special performances en route to an 11-4 series opening win against St. John's (22-6-1, 3-1 BIG EAST) on Friday night at Elliot Ballpark.

RHP Ian Cooke (2-1) came out of the UConn bullpen and fired 7.2 shutout innings, allowed just two hits and struck out a career-high 14 batters. The New Milford, Conn. native had a stretch from when he entered in the second to the fifth inning that he retired 10 St. John's batters in a row.

UConn jumped in front early in the first with back-to-back doubles from Bryan Padilla and Paul Tammaro to take a 1-0 advantage.

After UConn starter Gabe Van Emon struggled in the second with his command and allowed four runs with four walks in the frame, the Huskies trailed 4-1.

Maddix Dalena answered the call in the home half of the second with a two-run, no doubt homer to right field. It would be the first of three home runs for the UConn first baseman and cut the deficit to 4-3.

UConn took the lead for good in the third with Korey Morton (2-Run) and Luke Broadhurst (Solo) hitting back-to-back home runs to make it 6-4 Huskies.

Dalena helped provide insurance for the Huskies with a solo homer in the seventh and two-run shot in the eighth to make it 11-4.

For Dalena, he became the first Husky since Mike Olt in 2010 to hit three home runs in a game.

The Huskies have won a season-high five games in a row and will look to claim a series tomorrow at 2:05 p.m. at Elliot Ballpark.

Game Notes

Maddix Dalena recorded a career-high five runs batted in on Friday. The sophomore has driven in 10 runs in the last three games for the Huskies.
UConn hit a season-high five home runs on Friday. It is the first time the Huskies have hit five homers since hitting five against Rutgers on March 26, 2023.
Korey Morton and Luke Broadhurst each homered on Friday. The two are tied with 21 career home runs at UConn, the most among active Huskies.
Ian Cooke recorded a career-high 14 strikeouts. It is the first time UConn has had a pitcher record at least 14 strikeouts since Ben Casparius had 15 strikeouts vs. Georgetown in 2021.