University of Connecticut Athletics
2021 Baseball Roster
Austin Peterson
- Position:
- Right-Handed Pitcher
- Height:
- 6-6
- Weight:
- 234
- Class:
- Junior
- Hometown:
- Chesterton, Ind.
- Prev School:
- Wabash Valley
- High School:
- Chesterton
2022 Season: Selected in the ninth round of the 2022 MLB Draft by the Cleveland Guardians. Team Captain. First Team NCBWA All-American. Second Team Collegiate Baseball All-American. Third Team ABCA All-American. Third Team D1Baseball.com All-American. New England Pitcher of the Year. ECAC Pitcher of the Year. NCBWA District 2 Co-Player of the Year. First Team ABCA All-Northeast Region. First Team All-BIG EAST. First Team All-New England. BIG EAST All-Tournament team. Set UConn single season record with 147 strikeouts. Tied for second in single-season history with 11 wins. Became the first UConn duo (Patrick Gallagher) to each record 10 wins or more in a season. Went 6.0 innings or more in 14 of 17 starts. Recorded double digit strikeouts in 7 of 10 non-conference starts. In just two seasons in Storrs, recorded 226 strikeouts, ranking tied for sixth all-time as a Husky. Finishes 5th all-time with 10.83 strikeouts per nine and tied for ninth with 18 career wins in two years. In 18 appearances and 17 starts, went 11-3 with a 3.83 ERA. Logged 110.1 innings and his 147 strikeouts ranked third in the nation. His 11 wins tied for second most in the country. Ranked 39th in the country in strikeouts per nine (11.99) and 29th in the nation in strikeout-to-walk ratio (5.88). Recorded a career-high 13 strikeouts in 5.2 innings on Opening Night at USF (2/18). Pitched 6.0 innings, gave up zero earned runs, walked zero and struck out 10 in victory at UNF (2/25). Registered 10 punch outs in six innings at FIU (3/4). Earned victory at Pepperdine (3/11) with 7.0 innings of two-run ball that featured 10 strikeouts. Dealt 6.0 innings with zero walks and 10 strikeouts to beat URI (3/25). Notched win at Kent State (4/1) with 8.0 innings of work with no walks and 10 strikeouts. Opened BIG EAST play with 6.0 innings of one-run ball with no walks and six strikeouts vs. St. John's (4/8). Moved to 7-0 on the season with 7.0 innings of work at Seton Hall (4/14). Pitched a season-high 8.1 innings of one-run ball vs. Villanova (4/22). Went 8.0 innings, allowed zero earned runs and struck out nine vs. Creighton (5/6) to move to 9-0 on the season. Pitched seven shutout frames on just four hits and eight strikeouts vs. Geogetown (5/26) in the BIG EAST Championship. Out-dueled ACC Pitcher of the Year Rhett Lowder with 6.0 innings, three hits, two runs and 11 strikeouts to help Huskies beat Wake Forest (6/3) in College Park Regional. Came out of the pen for the first time on the year and pitched 2.1 innings to help Huskies win College Park Regional title at No. 15 Maryland (6/6).Â
2021 Season: All-BIG EAST Second Team. Made 14 starts and 15 appearances in his first year at UConn, going 7-1 with a 2.58 ERA. In 80.1 innings, he had one complete game, and 82 strikeouts while holding opponents to a .201 average against. In the BIG EAST ranked fourth in ERA, third in innings pitched, fifth in batting average against, third in wins and was first in the conference with 33 strikeouts looking. Huskies went 12-2 in his 14 starts. Earned first career win at UConn with a 6.0 inning, two hits, eight strikeout performance at Southern Mississippi (2/28). Pitched 7.1 shutout innings with eight strikeouts in a win at Saint Joseph's (3/21). Tossed 6.0 innings and allowed just one run while striking out eight in a win vs. UMass (4/3). Logged a complete-game one-hitter against Georgetown (4/10). Pitched 7.0 innings in a victory at St. John's (5/7) with eight strikeouts. Registered his seventh win in the BIG EAST Championship with a 6.0 inning, one run performance vs. Xavier (5/27). Dealt 5.2 innings, allowed two hits, one run and struck out seven in the South Bend Regional vs. Michigan (6/4).
A transfer from Wabash Valley Community College in Mount Carmel, Illinois
2020 at Wabash Valley: In shortened season due to Covid-19, pitched in five games and made two starts. Went 2-0 with a 3.05 ERA. Struck out 29 in 20.2 innings pitched. Posted a season-high six innings and nine strikeouts against Southwestern Illinois College (March 7).
2019 at Purdue:Â Pitched in 25 games and started the midweek game at Ball State. Led the freshman class in strikeouts, innings pitched and appearances. Averaged 9.19 strikeouts per nine innings, good for 12th in program history (min. 30 innings). Compiled a 2.20 ERA over 16 1/3 innings in Big Ten play. Struck out nine over 5 1/3 innings of two-hit relief to earn the victory in the game 2 win vs. NJIT. Closed out the rubber game win vs. Southeast Missouri with 2 2/3 innings of scoreless one-hit relief. Worked 2 1/3 innings of one-hit relief in the series-opening win at Northwestern to begin Big Ten play. Struck out five vs. Texas, Oral Roberts and Nebraska. Made multiple relief appearances in series vs. Southern Miss, Jacksonville State, SEMO and Ohio State
High School:Â Varsity letterwinner for coach Jack Campbell at Chesterton High School in Northwest Indiana. Also played varsity basketball. Two-time Duneland Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year as an upperclassman. Finished his prep career with a 0.80 ERA and 277 strikeouts. CHS Male Athlete of the Year winner as a senior. Region Player of the Year as a sophomore. Three-year all-conference, all-area and team MVP honoree. On the basketball court, was a two-time all-conference, all-area and team MVP honoree as an upperclassman. Won a Marucci World Series championship with his Indiana Prospects travel ball team. Helped CHS win a pair of regional titles plus the 2017 Duneland Athletic Conference crown
• Four-year honor roll student
Personal: Austin Lee Peterson. Parents are Audra and Glenn. Has two brothers, Glenn and Jordan.Â
