Known UConn Games Spring 2013

Known Games for Spring 2013 UConn Sports

The full softball schedule is available here

Women's Lacrosse

Sunday, April 7, 2013: at Villanova, 1:00 PM (source)
Friday, April 12, 2013: vs. Cincinnati, 3:00 PM (source)
Friday, April 26, 2013: at Georgetown, 4:00 pm (source)

Baseball:

There is also a tournament at Central Florida against UCF and Michigan, date unknown.
There is also a tournament at Stetson the weekend of March 1 against Stetson, Ohio State, and Central Michigan.
They have a 3 game series at Presbyterian over spring break and one game at College of Charleston.
They also have a 3 game road series at Sam Houston State.
They have a 3 game series against George Mason the last weekend of the season and will probably play 24 conference games.

(Above quote from Chris Jones)

Update: Notre Dame will play 24 conference games, 3 each against 8 opponents, presumably we will too

Additional details:


Friday, February 15, 2013: vs. Indiana @ Dunedin, FL, 4:00 PM (source)
Saturday, February 16 or Sunday February 17: vs. Purdue in Dunedin, FL (source)
Friday, April 26: at Notre Dame, 5:35 PM
Saturday, April 27: at Notre Dame, 2:05 PM
Sunday, April 28: at Notre Dame, 1:05 PM

Game 2-21-89: Baseball vs. Yale

What: Baseball vs. Yale
Where: J.O. Christian Field
When: Wednesday, March 21, 3:00 PM
Result: Win, 8-0

I arrived at the JOC at 2:45 after being delayed on the bus several times. I was worried I would miss the start of opening day, but I managed to get there in time. The K-9 Unit was there as we were last year, but unfortunately they did not have a shirt in my size. So, I'll just have to wait to get one. That's ok. We've got many more games this year.

As for the game itself, it wasn't very close. Pat Butler had a no-hitter through five innings, and we shut out the Yale Bulldogs, 8-0. LJ Mazilli hit a home run in the bottom of the first to put us up 2-0, and we didn't look back. The weather was also very nice. Last year, we didn't have a game with the weather above 50 degrees until Quinnipiac the last week of classes. It's March 21 and we already had one this year. We have four more games in March, so we could and should have more nice days before April.

The Bulldogs looked like a second-class team, and they were. Big East play should be closer, but this wasn't. Some students found a list of pitcher heckles and were shouting them throughout. Very amusing. You can view it here if you're interested.

Our next home game is next Tuesday. I will  have to arrive late due to class, but I will be there. Hopefully we can win again. I will also be at the lacrosse game vs. Syracuse over the weekend. The Orange are a good team, so that will be tough. For now, Go Huskies!

Unofficial 2012 UConn Baseball Schedule

According to someone I received an email from a reader of this blog, here is a complete (but unofficial) UConn baseball schedule for 2012. It was apparently distributed at the Alumni Baseball game a few weeks ago. After it, you will find some comments by me.

Preseason Tournaments

Feb 17-19 at Clearwater...Purdue, Ohio State and Indiana
Feb24-26 at College of Charleston Xavier, C ofC, Rhode Island
Mar 3-5 at Miss State ..against Lipscomb(Sat), Lipscomb and Miss State (Sunday), Miss State (Monday)
Mar 9-11 at Oregon (Nike Showcase) Oklahoma (9th), Oregon State(10th), Illinois(10th) and Oregon(11th)
Mar 16-18 at Coastal Carolina Coastal, Michigan and UAB

Regular Games (Big East Games have a *)

Mar 13 at Sacred Heart (Harbor Yard, Bridgeport)
Mar 21 Yale

The Huskies no longer have George Springer
 (first photo, right) or Matt Barnes (above)
 but will look to repeat as Big East regular
 season champions and reach the
NCAA Tournament.

Mar 23-25 at WVU *
Mar 27 Hartford
Mar 28 CCSU
Mar 30-Apr 1 Seton Hall *
April 2/Apr 25 at UMass
Apr 3 at Boston College
Apr 5-7 at Pitt *
Apr 9 at Quinnipiac
Apr 11 at Brown
Apr 13-15 at St John's *
Apr 17 at Fairfield
Apr 18/May 9 Northeastern (see below)
Apr 20-22 Rutgers *
Apr 24 Bryant
Apr 28-29 at Louisville (DH on 28th) *
May 5-6 Cincinnati (DH on 5th at Norwich or Dodd) *
May 11-13 at USF *
May 15 vs. URI at Dodd Stadium, 11 AM
May 17-19 Notre Dame (17th and 18th in New Britain or Norwich) *

May 23-27: Big East Tournament, Clearwater, Florida


My Thougts:

• From the last game of the Seton Hall series on April 1st until we host Northeastern on April 18th, we do not have a single home game. Additionally, from March 24th until April 14th, our women's lacrosse team does not have a single home game. (I said this yesterday). I wonder if this is intentional or not. Probably not.
• A game at Sacred Heart on the 13th that is listed on Sacred Heart's schedule is not listed here. I'm not sure if this is a mistake on Sacred Heart's schedule or ours or if the source simply forgot to include it. This was an error by the source. He confirmed this.
• The two Big East teams who we do not face are Georgetown and Villanova, the two worst teams from last year. 
• I'm not sure if the Cincinnati DH is the only game(s) in Norwich/New Britain. I've heard other reports saying we may play one game vs. Rutgers and/or Notre Dame there. Update: It appears we are playing the Irish in New Britain or Norwich on the 17th and 18th.  The game on the 19th will be in Storrs. 
• Our last home game during the academic year is April 24th vs. Bryant. 
• UConn typically releases their baseball schedule very late, so don't expect them to release this via a press release for at least another month. 
• Of course, it's unofficial at this point as well.

Edit: The Northeastern schedule shows the game between us as being on May 9. I cannot confirm which is correct. We will see. It is possible that they moved it to May 9th to add another game on the 18th. We'll see. Schedule should be officially released within the soon future.
Edit 2 (11/27): UMass's baseball schedule says they play us on April 2nd, in contradiction to the previous date of the 25th of April. However, I could find no official announcement on UMass's website so I will assume it is tentative. This would give us five games in five days with Seton Hall x 3 before and Boston College after, plus it would give us eight games in nine days due to the Pitt series, so I'm guessing BC got moved. However, they have not announced their schedule yet. Also, URI's schedule states that their game vs. us on May 15th is at 11:00 AM at Dodd Stadium

For those Looking for 2012 Baseball Schedule Info...

My sources (read: stats) tell me that a lot of people are coming to this site looking for info on the 2012 UConn baseball schedule, which I have written about. It can now be found here. That is a tentative schedule. I had been updating it regularly, but now, I have a full (albeit tentative schedule) there. If I get any updates, they will appear there. Once again, for a full, tentative, 2012 UConn baseball schedule, click here.

Known UConn Baseball Games for 2012 Season (UDPATED 10/13/2011)

Edit: I now have the complete (tentative) 2012 schedule. You can view it here. 

Earlier, I posted about piecing together the UConn 2012 baseball schedule. I mentioned St. John's is hosting us April 13-15 and that we are playing at Sacred Heart on March 13, per their schedule. Well, know I know more. If you find any others through other teams' press releases, contact me using the above links.

February 17-19: Big Ten/Big East Challenge vs. Indiana, Purdue, and Ohio State (citation)
March 3: at Mississippi State (citation)

I will keep this updated.

Update 10/13/2011:

This is the tentative schedule for weekday baseball games, excluding preseason tournaments. Of course, it is subject to change. My source is a member of The Boneyard, who got it from someone at the alumni game. It is, of course, still subject to change as the official schedule has not been released. All home games are at JOC Field, except for Sacred Heart which will be at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

Sacred Heart – 3/13
Yale – 3/21
Hartford – 3/27
CCSU – 3/28
at Boston College – 4/3
at Quinnipiac -4/9
at Brown – 4/11
at Fairfield – 4/17
Northeastern – 4/18
Bryant – 4/24
at UMass – 4/25
URI – 5/15

Second Update 10/13/2011:

Here are some tournaments we will be in early season:

College of Charleston Tournament – Xavier, College of Charleston, URI – Feb 24-26
Mississippi State Tournament – Lipscomb, Mississippi State – March 3-5
Nike Classic – Oklahoma, Oregon State, Illinois, Oregon – March 9-11
Coastal Carolina Tournament – Michigan, Coastal, UAB – March 16-18

Additionally, we have the following Big East baseball games on our schedule:

Fri-Sun, April 13-15: at St. John’s (Blankmeyer releases Big East Portion of 2012 schedule) 
Friday, April 20 - Sunday, April 22 vs. Rutgers (College Baseball Daily. See also Rutgers' schedule)
Sat-Sun, May 5 (DH)-6: vs. Cincinnati (Sean Stires, CollegeBaseball360)
Thursday, May 16 - Saturday, May 18  vs. Notre Dame (unconfirmed, The Boneyard)
No Games: Villanova and Georgetown (Hartford Courant)

Home Big East Games, unknown  date: Seton Hall
Away Big East Games, unknown date: Louisville, West Virginia, South Florida, Pittsburgh

The Big East Tournament will be May 23-27 (Memorial Day Weekend) in Clearwater, Florida at Bright House Field.

Tentative Weekday Baseball Game Schedule

This is the tentative schedule for weekday baseball games, excluding preseason tournaments. Of course, it is subject to change. My source is a member of The Boneyard, who got it from someone at the alumni game. It is, of course, still subject to change as the official schedule has not been released. All home games are at JOC Field, except for Sacred Heart which will be at Harbor Yard in Bridgeport.

Sacred Heart - 3/13
Yale - 3/21
Hartford - 3/27
CCSU - 3/28
at Boston College - 4/3
at Quinnipiac -4/9
at Brown - 4/11
at Fairfield - 4/17
Northeastern - 4/18
Bryant - 4/24
at UMass - 4/25
URI - 5/15

Note: All of these games are prior to the end of classes except for URI, which is a week and several days after commencement weekend. However, from March 28th to April 18th, we do not have a home weekday game. In general, whoever we got at home last year we play on the road, and vice versa. There are a few exceptions. I will analyze this more when the full schedule is officially released.

UConn Baseball Schedule Speculation and Facts

I posted earlier about known baseball games for next season. Here is what I said we have in print is happening:

Mon. March 5: At Mississippi State (MSU Schedule)
Oregon Tournament (TBD, Fri-Sat. March 3-11): vs. Oregon, Oregon State, Oklahoma, Illinois (Courant Website)
Tuesday, March 13th: at Sacred Heart (Pioneers Athletic Website)
Fri-Sun, April 13-15: at St. John's (Blankmeyer releases Big East Portion of 2012 schedule)
Sat-Sun, May 5 (DH)-6: vs. Cincinnati (Bearcats "Super Scoreboard" - baseball page still lists last year's schedule)
Tues. May 24th: vs. Bryant, 3:30 PM (athletic website)
No Games: Villanova, Georgetown

Additionally, the Yale website now confirms we are playing the Bulldogs on Wednesday, March 21 at 3:00 PM.

Finally, this was posted on the UConn Fan site, The Boneyard. I do not know how much of it is true.

Here are some additional games:
College of Charleston Tournament - Xavier, College of Charleston, URI - Feb 24-26
Mississippi State Tournament - Lipscomb, Mississippi State - March 3-5
Nike Classic - Oklahoma, Oregon State, Illinois, Oregon - March 9-11
Coastal Carolina Tournament - Michigan, Coastal, UAB - March 16-18

Possible games at either Norwich or New Britain:
Rutgers - April 20
Cincinnati - May 5
Notre Dame - May 17 & 18

First scheduled home game - March 21 - Yale

Supposing this to be true, that would mean we host Rutgers April 20-22 and Notre Dame May 17-19. (The last Big East series of the season is Thursday-Saturday). It also means we will not be home on finals weekend unless they give us three in a row. Assuming the Rutgers and Notre Dames to be accurate, we know the Cincinnati date is accurate, which means Seton Hall is the only one we're waiting on.

Additionally, we will likely play non-conferencr weekday games against Brown, Hartford, CCSU, Holy Cross, etc. Stay tuned!

 

UConn Sports Roundup, September 3, 2011 (UPDATED 9/4/11, 8:54 AM)

Football: In the premier UConn game of the day, the UConn football team defeated the Fordham Rams, 35-3. You can also read the official release here. As for the game, this was a blowout, and not unexpected. Michael Nebrich, Scotty McCummings, and Johnny McEntee all saw playing time. On a side note, does anyone else think Johnny McEntee sounds like he should be someone in a comic book? But I digress. Another surprise was Lyle McCombs starting at running back over DJ Shoemate. No word yet on whether that will be permanent, but given his good showing (141 yards and 4 TD's) I would expect Coach Pasqualoni to start him at Vandy next week. It's a good start to the season, but we'll have to beat better teams to make a difference.

Women's Volleyball: In their second game of the Toyota UConn Classic, the Huskies swept Holy Cross 3-0. Next up is Binghamton tonight at 7:30 to wrap up the tournament. Read more about the win over the Crusaders here. The Huskies are 3-2 on the season. Update 9/4/11 8:54 AM: The Huskies swept the Bearcats last night 3-0. Senior Jordan Kirk was named the tournament MVP, and was joined on the All-Tournament team by fellow Huskies Mattison Quayle and Kelsey Manning. The Huskies are now 4-2 on the season. Next up, the Huskies host Sacred Heart on September 6th at 7:30 PM. You can watch that game on Huskies All-Access.

Women's Soccer: The Huskies got a big win against #15/17 Wake Forest last night in Winston-Salem. Thanks to a goal by Danielle Schulman, and a winner by Devin Prendergast at 83:46, the Huskies beat the previously-undefeated Demon Deacons 2-1 and are now 2-1-0. Next up is Virginia Tech on Sunday, also in Winston-Salem. That game is at 11:30 AM and will be on WHUS 91.7 FM/WHUS.org.

Men's Soccer: As previously mentioned, the Huskies play a huge game vs. California tomorrow at 4:30 PM. The Golden Bears are #7 in the country. That game will be on WHUS.org/WHUS 91.7 FM and All-Access.

Field Hockey:  Another major game for the Huskies tomorrow, as they travel to Penn State to face the #8 Nittany Lions. With a win, the Huskies would likely move up to #2 nationally thanks to losses by #1 Maryland and #3 Virginia. #2 UNC beat #5 Syracuse, so the Huskies will likely be #2 to the Tar Heels when the rankings come out Monday if they pull off the win.

Softball: The 2012 softball schedule is up on the website. Find it here. I will post in more detail about it when a press release is published.

Baseball: We can now begin to fill in bits and pieces of the 2012 schedule. St. John's released their Big East schedule. The Huskies will travel to Kaiser Stadium in Queens April 13-15. That should be a big series, as always. Also, Sacred Heart's website shows them hosting the Huskies on March 13 at a time to be determined. Let's see if we can fill in more pieces before UConn releases their full schedule. That has typically been anywhere from mid-October to mid-December, so let's wait and see.

Miscellaneous: UConn started a new Husky blog today, called "UConn Believe It". You can find it at UConnHuskies.com/blog.  They also invite you to comment on today's football game here. I hope that the blog will give recognition to the Husky sports besides basketball and football. Both posts were about today's football game, but let's hope they post about other sports. If so, I give them a lot of credit. If not, that's what I do. Keep reading here.

Top 10 Games I Attended 2010-11 #4: Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's

Sorry for not posting this yesterday. Anyway, this is game #4 on my Top 10 games I attended of 2010-11. Game #3 will be posted next Monday. Game #2 should be posted the Monday after that, but it's Independence Day and I'm going to my cousin's wedding in New Jersey, so it might not be up until Tuesday. Or, I might post it on Sunday, July 3rd. So stay tuned.

What: Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's (original post)

When: Game 1 - Saturday, April 2, 2011, 12:00 PM. Game 2 - Same day, roughly 2:50 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Game 1 - win 9-1 Game 2- Win 6-5

I had left early or missed entirely all the games of the series vs. Pittsburgh. Mainly this was due to the miserable weather for those games. These had slightly better weather but not by much. The Friday game was rained out and made up as a doubleheader that Saturday. And it was really the first time the K-9 Unit got that large a crowd. Despite the periodical snow squalls, we all had a good time watching 18 innings worth of baseball.

The first game was relatively uneventful, aside from an apparent threat by Red Storm pitcher Kyle Hanson to several members of the K-9 Unit. I wasn't one of them, but I'm told he said something to the effect of "I'm going to [expletive] beat the [expletive] out of you", presumably due to all the heckling we gave him. And he's Tommy Hanson's brother. Yes, that Tommy Hanson, the one who struggled with the Boston Red Sox and is now out of baseball. Kyle is supposedly better but it didn't show in Game 1 as we won 9-1.

Now, for those of you who don't know, St. John's is probably the closest thing we have to a rival in baseball. We are close geographically, and  are by far the Top two teams in the Northeastern United States. Within the Big East, Providence doesn't play baseball, Seton Hall is not typically that good but made a good run in the conference tournament, and Villanova, Rutgers, and Georgetown are perennial Big East cellar dwellers. So these were big games.

As for game two, it was a lot better. It was close throughout, and with the score tied 5-5 with two out in the bottom of the ninth and Tim Martin on first, LJ Mazilli hit what appeared to be a routine, inning-ending flyball to centerfield. But Kyle Richardson DROPPED it and Martin came all the way around from first to score the winning run. And that could, looking back on it, have been the turning point of our season. We'd beaten Pittsburgh two out of three in the first Big East series, but Pitt is a middle-of-the-pack Big East team. We had made the NCAA Tournament the year before and probably should have swept them at home. But we were struggling. We beat St. John's in game 1, which was good, but it's interesting to think about how our season might have turned out if Richardson had caught that fly ball and the Red Storm had won in extra innings. Would we have merely finished the season with one more loss? Or would we have never gone on that winning streak, and finished the season in the middle of the conference (or worse)? Who knows. Nobody could have known at the time what would happen later though.

Anyway, that's that for this game. Game 3 will be posted next Monday. Perhaps one or both ice hockey teams will release their schedule(s) for next year before then, in which case I will have a post. Until then, Go Huskies!

Top 10 2010-11 List Game 9: Baseball vs. Holy Cross, March 22

Game number 9 in the top 10 games I attended.

What: Baseball vs. Holy Cross (link)

When: Tuesday, March 22, 2011, 3:00 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Tie 2-2, 16 innings

This was the first UConn baseball game I ever attended. It was also the first outdoor event I had attended since Hockey Fest and the first one on-campus since the Field Hockey Big East Final on November 7. The weather was cold and dreary, but I stuck it out for the whole four hour, 16 inning game. (On a side note, I am impressed that this game was shorter than some nine-inning Yankees-Red Sox games, but that's besides the point).

Of course, I was as disappointed as anyone when it was called due to darkness, but I toughed it out. I could have stopped being a fan of UConn baseball right then and there, but I didn't. And now we are Big East Champions.

I will always remember this as being the first UConn baseball game I ever saw, just as I will remember the Tigers-Yankees game on April 11, 1999 as being the first Yankees game I ever attended. And since I missed the top of the first inning of this one as I was late arriving due to class, LJ Mazilli was the first Huskies batter and the first batter in general that I saw. And of course, just as Orlando "El Duque" Hernandez took a no-hitter into the seventh inning of that game, possibly cementing my place as a lifelong Yankees fan, I will always remember the thrill of the 16-inning dogfight in this game, even if it didn't end as I had hoped.

On an interesting note, just as I mentioned in my post for Game #10 that Boston University was my first opponent I saw in three different sports, the Holy Cross Crusaders women's basketball team were the visitors the first time I saw a UConn regular season game in that sport.

Game #8 is coming up next Monday. There may be more commentary before then, plus discussion of any schedules should they be released. Until then, Go Huskies!

April 25, 2011 (Game 68): Baseball vs. Quinnipiac

What: Baseball vs. Quinnipiac

When: Monday April 25, 2011, 3:00 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Win 9-0
This was my first Huskies game in 22 days. Wow. It's been a while. I arrived in the middle of the fourth after coming from class. The score was 0-0. But the Bobcats would fall apart shortly after I arrived, making two errors to allow two unearned runs without giving up a hit in the bottom of the sixth, before allowing seven runs on four hits and four (!) errors in the seventh. Ultimately we won 9-0 but it was the worst defensive effort I have ever seen.

Since there is no bus to Dodd on May 7th, this was the last baseball game I will be at this season. I may be at softball today, tomorrow, and/or on Saturday May 7th, but we'll see. And I am one of the top K-9 Unit members in terms of games attended this season, so I will receive a prize which I will pick up Thursday or Friday. Awesome!

Looking back on it (and I will expand on this in the concluding post come the second week of May) the tie vs. Holy Cross could have discouraged me from attending another game. It was a disappointing opening result. But I stuck true, and managed to enjoy what has so far been a great season. Due to the nasty weather, Ileft shortly after the Saturday game with Pitt began, and didn't even attend the Sunday finale, but then the St. John's series really energized me. And that excitement continued through following us on the road. I couldn't attend the Thursday game vs. Georgetown or the two Friday games in New Britain, but I managed to come to the JOC and watch this one to wrap up the part of the season which falls during the semester.

I will continue following the team through the remainder of the season, the Big East Tournament, and (hopefully) the NCAA Regionals, Super-Regionals, and maybe even to Omaha. But for now, I'm just happy to have witnessed so many great moments at the JOC. And baseball will get a big mention in the Wrap-up post. I need a cool name for it. Basketball blog The MidMajority calls their wrap-up post "The Epilogue" which I think is a fitting name for it. But I don't like using other people's terms, so I'll think of one myself. I'll take suggestions. And if I use yours, I'll give you credit this year and each year thereafter. So don't worry.

For now though, no more than three games remaining this year. Maybe four, if the opener of the UConn-Providence doubleheader tomorrow runs really long and I manage to get there after class. But I probably still won't be there long enough for it to count towards the *official* game count unless it goes really long in which case the second game likely won't be able to be played to completion and will have to be suspended. But we'll deal with that if/when it happens.

For now though, if I don't happen to go to any softball games, thank you to my readership, and it's been a great year. Stay tuned for whatever I decide to call the concluding post. Perhaps The Conclusion? The Terminus? I like the second one.

Here are some interesting synonyms for "end" from thesaurus.com:

• Adjournment


• Cessation


• Closure


• Conclusion


• Culmination


• Finis


• Omega


• Realization


• Resolution


• Terminus

Seniors will find it interesting that "commencement" is listed as an antonym, but of course, if you pay attention to speakers, you'll know that "commencement is not an end. It's a beginning". So to any seniors at UConn reading this, good luck in the real world, and Go Huskies! And the latter holds for anyone else reading this too.

April 3, 2011 (Game 67): Baseball vs. St. John's

What: Baseball vs. St. John's

When: Sunday, April 3, 2011, 12:00 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Win 8-2

Back at the JOC for the third game of a three-game series. We were going for the sweep. And we got it. It wasn't as exciting as yesterday, particularly because the first-base ump warned the student section against "verbal attacks on individual players". Which meant we couldn't say anything too nasty about anyone or we'd be tossed. That, combined with the fact that it was a blowout, made this largely unmemorable.

There was once again a reduced crowd in the K-9 Unit due to many fans being in Houston for the Final Four. But the atmosphere was still great today. Even though we got all 8 of pour runs in the first two innings, the student crowd stayed in it for the entire game, and cheered the Huskies on.

So bring out the brooms, because we swept the Red Storm. On a side note, what exactly is a Red Storm? Are they named after the Great Red Spot on Jupiter or something? They used to be the Redmen until that was deemed offensive to Native Americans, but seriously, Red Storm? Couldn't you think of anything better? RedHawks? Red Rovers? Red Barons? Come on now.

Tonight our Women play in the Final Four. Tomorrow night our men's basketball team goes for the Championship. And Tuesday, our women (hopefully) go for the championship. I should make a full post summarizing the tournament when the Final UConn game is played. It's something to look forward to. But for now, Go Huskies!

Edit: After updating the Game Log, I noticed that this was the 50th UConn win that I have witnessed in person! Awesome. Go Huskies!

April 2, 2011 (Games 65+66): Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's

Note: I am combining the two games of the doubleheader into one post, which I will do for all doubleheaders. However, the games will be reviewed separately below.

What: Baseball Doubleheader vs. St. John's

When: Game 1: Saturday, April 2, 2011, 12:00 PM, Game 2: 2:50 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result Game 1: Win 9-1

Result Game 2: Win 6-5

Game 1 Review:

This game was originally scheduled to begin at 1:00 but with the yesterday's game rained out, today became a doubleheader starting at noon. Matt Barnes had a perfect game through four innings, but St. John's struck for one run on three hits in the fifth to go up 1-0. They would fall apart in the 6th inning though, and ultimately our bats would dominate and we would win, 9-1.

The Red Storm pitcher was Kyle Hansen, who apparently threatened several members of the K-9 Unit after the game, saying "I want to beat your a** up" and having to be restrained by teammates. If only he'd pulled an Artest, that would have been crazy. But he didn't.

Between games was a nice experience, as the K-9 Unit students got wings. And some other people got them too because our group was depleted from people in Houston at the Final Four (another way of heckling St. John's)

Game 2:

This one was a bit more exciting. St. John's leadoff batter Matt Wassinger led off the game with a home run to put the Red Storm up 1-0. We would put up two runs in the bottom of the second to take the lead. But the Red Storm came roaring back, scoring two in the fifth and two in the sixth to go up 5-1. It looked like we were done, and when a rain/snow squall hit in between innings, some started to leave.

But we would pick up an unearned run in the bottom of the inning after Nick Ahmed scored on what should have been an inning-ending double play. In the bottom of the eighth, we had the bases loaded and one out. Mike Nemeth hit a ground ball to first. They threw to second and George Springer was clearly safe but was called out. A run still came home to make it 5-4, but Ryan Fuller struck out to end the inning.

In the bottom of the ninth, pinch hitter Tim Martin (who had gone 3-4 in game one) singled up the middle, scoring Ryan Moore to tie the game. Then, LJ Mazilli hit what appeared to be a routine fly ball to Centerfield which would have sent the game into extra innings. But centerfielder Kyle Richardson dropped the ball! Martin was hustling all the way and came around to score the winning run to the disbelief of everyone in the ballpark. My reaction was something along the lines of "Ugh. Extra innings ag- HOLY #@%$ HE DROPPED IT! WE WON!!!!!!!!" and I'm sure many other fans were thinking the same thing. A bizarre finish to the second game of a doubleheader.

Meanwhile, over on the adjacent softball field, UConn swept Rutgers in their own nearly simultaneous doubleheader, and of course, the Men's Basketball team beat Kentucky in the Final Four later last night. Today, both baseball and softball go for a sweep, and the Women's Basketball team tries to beat Notre Dame in the Final Four. I'll be at baseball. And hopefully the women win tonight, and both teams win the championship on Monday and Tuesday. Until then, Go Huskies!

Update re: Baseball Games

• Due to the extreme cold, I left the baseball game after the third inning on Saturday. No review will be posted.


• Also due to the extreme cold, I did not attend Sunday's game. So, no review will be posted


• Weekly Schedule for this week will be posted soon.

March 25 (Game 63): Baseball vs. Pittsburgh

What: Baseball vs. Pittsburgh

When: Friday, March 25, 3:00 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Win 7-0

This was our Big East home opener and turned out a lot better than last game. Matt Barnes pitched a complete game shutout, and we actually scored some runs and won 7-0. I had LJ Mazilli in the "Run of the Game" Contest which I didn't know existed last game. He was on third with the bases loaded and two outs in the bottom of the first inning, but the umpire blew a call at first and called Batter/Runner John Andreoli out at first when he was clearly safe to end the inning. Nevertheless, between the shutout yesterday and the 15 scoreless innings I witnessed yesterday after arriving in the middle of the first, in the 24 innings I have witnessed, UConn has not allowed a single run. Not bad.

Also, for all the veteran UConn baseball fans out there, does anyone know if they started playing "Sweet Caroline" at the end of baseball games this year or if they started earlier? When I watched webcasts last year, I don't recall them playing it, but that could easily be because they shut off the audio after the final pitch. According to Wikipedia, "It is also played at sporting events by Florida State University and the University of Pittsburgh". It doesn't mention us. If anyone wants to find a reliable source (by Wikipedia policy, this blog is NOT considered a reliable source, particularly if I edit the page myself) and add our baseball team to the Wikipedia page, go ahead. I may try to find one too.

There are two more games today and tomorrow. And, with the buses running today since it's the "make-up class day", I'll be able to take the Blue Line directly to I-Lot across from the Stadium instead of having to take the Weekend Shuttle to the Co-op and walk the rest of the way. And I'll be taking the Blue Line to South Campus Dining Hall to eat breakfast in a few minutes since the other dining halls don't open until 10:30. Curse my alarm for waking me up at 6:00 since I forgot to put it in Weekend mode. Go Huskies!

March 22 (Game 62) Baseball vs. Holy Cross

What: Baseball vs. Holy Cross

When: Tuesday March 22, 3:00 PM

Where: J.O. Christian Field

Result: Tie 2-2 (16 innings)

Wow. This was an amazing game. I arrived from class in the middle of the first inning with Holy Cross up 2-0. Little did I know at that time what would result. We got two runs in the bottom of the fourth on a home run by Ryan Fuller. But after that, both teams would be held scoreless for the next twelve innings. At that point, since J.O. Christian Field lacks lights, the umps were forced to call the game on darkness.

Do you realize how aggravating it was sitting out there in the cold for almost four hours, watching 16 innings of baseball, and then it ends in a tie? Come on. Just ridiculous. At the very least, they should have suspended it and made it up some other time. If it were a Big East game they would have.

Nevertheless, it was pretty fun watching my first UConn baseball game. I'll be at all three games of the weekend series vs. Pitt. Hopefully things turn out well for us now that we're playing at home instead of in sunny Florida and California. Of course, it's snowing at UConn right now, so perhaps we'd have been better off staying down in the sun and warm.

On a news note, I was unable to make it to the Women's Basketball Round of 32 game as a result of the long ending, because the game ended around 7:10 pm and by the time I got to Gampel it would have been 7:20 or so and the game would probably already have been a blowout so I just went back and watched it on TV. It also happened to be a factor that I was completely freezing at the time and the Blue Line bus happened to be right there at the bus stop 15 feet from the field when I left. So that helped.

That's all for now. Go Huskies!

Blog News: On Incomplete Games and Other Baseball/Softball Issues

With baseball and softball season starting, and weekday afternoon games abounding, it is time we address a possibility - games I partially attend. Here are what I will establish as the "ground rules", if you will.

• Softball games are typically 7 innings, while baseball games are 9. Therefore, for softball I must arrive by the middle of the fourth inning for it to be included in my game count. For baseball, I must arrive by the middle of the fifth inning.


• Resumed editions of suspended games will be included in the game counts only if I was at the original at a sufficiently early point for it to ordinarily merit inclusion. Should this happen, the pre-suspension game will get its own review, as will the post-resuming edition, although the latter will be lumped in with any full game that occurs in the same session.


• Just because a Game is not included in the official count does not mean I won't write a review for it. If I feel I was sufficiently there to commentate, I will. And all games I am at will be at the list regardless of whether they are included in the count. Should I be at one for an insufficient amount of time, it will be denoted as INCOMPLETE accordingly.


• Also, doubleheaders in baseball and softball (although we don't have any scheduled ones in baseball this year) will be noted in the same blog post, but will be noted in the log as two separate games, and as such will count twice.