It took until the last at bat of a very long day, but the UConn baseball team knocked off Clemson 7-6 and stayed alive for yet another day. The fact that the Huskies took until the last second should not surprise anyone, after all, this was UConn and Clemson in an NCAA game, we've seen this movie before.
The baseball program had it's biggest day in at least thirty years today as the Huskies won not one, but two elimination games and earned a chance to knock off Clemson on Monday to move on to the Super-Regional. After a relatively easy12-6 romp over Costal Carolina the Huskies faced down the Tigers and just barely took eeked out a 7-6 victory.
Down 4-3 in the eighth inning, the Huskies plated three runners to take a solid lead heading into the ninth. Closer Kevin Vance couldn't hold the lead though, and allowed two runs and his first blown save of the year. Still, he struck out the side and gave UConn a chance to clinch it in the bottom of the ninth when the top of their lineup was due up.
LJ Mazilli belted a leadoff single and was moved over to second on a John Andreoli sac bunt. An intentional walk put George Springer on first, but Mike Nemeth popped a ball up for the Huskies second out. With the season on his shoulders, Ryan Fuller stepped to the plate and delivered a game-winning single into left and keeping the Huskies hopes alive for at least a few more hours.
UConn will face off against Clemson tomorrow night at 7 p.m. and we'll be here with coverage (and on twitter too). Greg Nappo is your expected starter for the Huskies, though ace Matt Barnes will apparently be available for a few innings if he's needed.
As a sidenote, it'll be a big day for more than one reason. The MLB draft is tomorrow night and both Springer and Barnes are projected as possible Top-10 picks. The draft starts at 6 p.m. so they should know what lies in their future by the first pitch.