UConn baseball evens series with UCF

Due to time constraints, the first game of the double-header between UConn and UCF was seven innings and the Huskies took a 6-2 win from the morning game.

The temperature was in the high 20s at first pitch and with seven Knights not from Florida or Georgia, the cold bothered the visitors early. The Huskies were able to get to them to the tune of three runs.

Shortstop Anthony Prato got the rally going with an infield single and after a hit-and-run with catcher Zac Susi, right fielder Isaac Feldstein had runners on the corners with one out. His infield single to third base continued Griffin Bernardo’s rough weekend at the hot corner after his school-record four errors Saturday as he threw the ball away, allowing each to advance 90 feet.

Another run came home on the first of three errors by Brandon Hernandez on the morning and UConn made it 3-0 when Matthew Mika bobbled a ball at second for the moment, allowing second baseman Christian Fedko to reach on an infield hit.

Chase Gardner gave the Huskies much-needed length after long outings from PJ Poulin and Jake Wallace yesterday. He allowed eight hits and other than two RBI singles from Mika, he shut down the Knights’ offense in 6 2/3 innings. He walked two and struck out five.

UCF had another defensive lapse in the fifth, allowing the Huskies to increase their lead to 5-2 headed into the home stretch. Feldstein recorded another infield single and stole second. Center fielder Troy Stefanski drew a walk and Fedko grounded a ball to first off the end of the bat.

The spin was too much for Rylan Thomas at first and it got by him, allowing Feldstein to cross the plate and Mika’s throw home skipped over Logan Heiser at the plate, bringing home Stefanski all the way from first.

Heiser committed the Knights’ seventh error in the sixth, which put Prato on third after a hit-by-pitch and a stolen base. An infield single brought him in to complete the scoring.

UConn (16-10, 2-3) completes their series with UCF at approximately 11:30 a.m.