University of Connecticut Athletics
University of Connecticut
Xavier University
HookC Kicks Off BIG EAST Championship on Wednesday
5/19/2026 5:45:00 PM | Baseball
STORRS, Conn. - The No. 2 seeded UConn baseball team (32-24) will open the BIG EAST Championship on Wednesday, May 20 at 6:30 p.m. against the No. 3 seeded Xavier Musketeers (27-28) at Prasco Park. The entire tournament can be streamed on ESPN+ and heard on 97.9 FM Fox Sports Radio with Mike Crispino and Adam Giardino on the call. Games can also be heard on MIXLR with Chris Jones on the call.
St. John's is the No 1 seed in the tournament and will play No. 4 seeded Creighton on Wednesday at 2:30 p.m. The tournament is a double elimination format.
On Tuesday, the BIG EAST Conference announced the regular season awards with the Huskies sweeping the major awards with Jackson Marshall garnering Player of the Year, Cayden Suchy taking home Pitcher of the Year and Cam Righi being named Freshman of the Year.Â
The Huskies also landed four players on the All-BIG EAST First Team and three players on the All-BIG EAST Second Team. 1B Jackson Marshall, LHP Cayden Suchy, LHP Charlie West and 2B Peyton Jemison grabbed first team accolades while Nater Wachter, Anthony Belisario and Rob Rispoli were voted to the second team.Â
The Huskies have won six conference tournament titles with five of them in the BIG EAST Conference (1990, 1994, 2013, 2021, 2022). Their lone American Athletic Conference title came in 2016. UConn is 58-41 overall in 26 BIG EAST Tournaments entering 2026. Since rejoining the BIG EAST in 2021. The Huskies are 11-7 at Prasco Park (Xavier(5-5), Creighton (2-1), Georgetown (3-1), St. John's (1-0).Â
UConn shared its sixth-straight BIG EAST Regular Season crown with a 15-6 mark in the league and share the title with St. John's and Xavier.Â
The UConn starting rotation has been its biggest strength in 2026 with the rotation combining for 24 quality starts on the season (Suchy (9), West (8),Pudvar (6), Hale (1)). Charlie West (106) and Cayden Suchy (104) pace the BIG EAST Conference in strikeouts and are only the second UConn duo in program history to reach the century mark in strikeouts in the same season (Austin Peterson, Pat Gallagher in 2022). The pitching staff has taken a big jump from last year leading the BIG EAST and near tops in country in multiple categories; ERA (4.39, 27th nationally), Shutouts (5, 16th in nation), strikeout-to-walk (2.70, 19th nationally) and walks allowed per nine (3.29, 10th nationally).Charlie Hale and Oliver Pudvar meanwhile lead the BIG EAST with seven victories on the year while Suchy (2.50) and Hale (2.89) hold the top two ERA's in the league.
Jackson Marshall is having an All-American type season in his first year in Storrs. The Southern New Hampshire transfer is T12th nationally with 83 hits and he leads the BIG EAST in hits, AVG (.382), doubles (19), RBI (60) and leads the Huskies with 14 home runs. The sophomore is in the midst of a 45-game reach base streak and out of the 55 games he has played he has reached safely in all but one (UNCW, Feb 28).
Anthony Belisario has been on a tear since returning to the lineup after a long stint on the bench. Entering the second game of the series against St. John's (4/18), the Staten Island, N.Y. native was hitting .111. But the center fielder jumped back into the lineup and been a key cog at the top of the lineup. Belisario is hitting .353 with 24 hits, 22 runs scored, three doubles, one homer, 10 RBI, 9 BB and 8 SB in 17 games. The Huskies are 12-5 during the stretch.
