UConn baseball voted third in preseason AAC poll

It will be a true period of transition for UConn baseball in 2020. In addition to the program’s swan song in the American Athletic Conference, one of the toughest leagues in the country, the Huskies will be opening up Elliot Ballpark. Instead of a few sets bleachers around a field, UConn is going to have a 1,500-seat stadium that is worthy of the team that will call it home.

Baseball season is just six weeks away, as the Huskies will open the season against Cal Poly on February 14 at the MLB4 Tournament in Scottsdale, Arizona and the conference coaches released the preseason poll and all-conference team on Monday.

UConn was placed third in the poll with 49 points. East Carolina (62 points, six first place votes) and Houston (54 points, three first place votes) finished ahead of the Huskies, as the coaches’ opinion did not change from 2019, as the same top three were slotted in the same order before last season as well.

Additionally, left-hander Caleb Wurster was named as the reliever on the preseason all-conference team. The redshirt sophomore threw 47 ¹⁄₃ innings in 36 appearances last season and allowed a .188 batting average against, which was second on the team, just behind Jacob Wallace, who was drafted in the third round of the 2019 MLB First Year Player Draft. Wurster is the top returning reliever for Jim Penders and is likely to replace Wallace as the Huskies’ closer for 2020.

The Huskies return to action in the MLB4 Tournament, which will be held at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick in Scottsdale, Arizona. UConn opens the event against Cal Poly on February 14, with a game the following day against Vanderbilt before closing the weekend out against Michigan.