UConn Baseball

UConn baseball notches midweek comeback win over Bryant

A big seventh inning paved the way for victory.

By Luke Swanson@Lukefrom2011 Apr 6, 2021, 9:47pm EDT

UConn’s Pat Winkel #43 claps after doubling in the eventual winning run in the 8th inning against Bryant.

UConn baseball notched a 9-8 victory over Bryant in dramatic fashion on Tuesday afternoon, rallying from five runs down in the later innings to come away with a win in Storrs.

Huskies’ catcher Patrick Winkel delivered the final blow in the bottom of the eighth, a go-ahead RBI double to the wall in right-center field, scoring Reggie Crawford for the winning run.

“The kid was throwing a pretty good two-seam but I know he didn’t have a secondary, so I was able to hone in on the fastball and just got one up in the zone that I was able to do something with,” Patrick Winkel said after the game.

Huskies have come all the way back! pic.twitter.com/PlcYu9iuWx
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) April 6, 2021

The Huskies trailed 8-3 in the bottom of the seventh inning when the rally caps were turned around and inside out. Kevin Ferrer and Zach Bushling got it started with a pair of singles, then Kyler Fedko scored both of them with an RBI triple and was brought home by Reggie Crawford’s RBI groundout, bringing the Huskies within two.

The younger Fedko brother went 3-for-4 on the day, and that was actually his second triple of the game, his first cutting into the Bryant lead in the fifth.

Kyler with another three-bagger to trim this Bryant lead to 3! pic.twitter.com/LC9jxQrgqU
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) April 6, 2021

Crawford would go on to have a hand in the next inning’s two-out rally, driving home Zach Bushling with an RBI single. Kyler Fedko crossed home again on a wild pitch, before Patrick Winkel’s double provided the last lead runs of the game.

Reliever Justin Willis provided a firm platform for the Huskies to complete their comeback, firing a scoreless eighth to earn the win. Crawford went from driving in runs at the plate to preventing them on the mound. The freshman closed out the game in the ninth inning by striking out all three Bryant batters without throwing a single breaking ball.

It was a bullpen day overall for UConn. The Huskies used seven pitchers with mixed results. Almost all of them inherited runners on base and almost all of them allowed some to score including closer Caleb Wurster, who was pulled after recording just one out in the seventh inning after giving up two runs on a double and a single. Freshman Patrick Gallagher had a rough start after a string of scoreless starts, exiting in the second inning after allowing four hits and three runs.

UConn actually got out to an early lead in the game, with a Reggie Crawford laser shot over the right field fence.

The Huskies now sit 14-12 on the year, riding a five-game winning streak that stretches back to March 19. They will put that streak to the test next on Friday, taking on Georgetown in a four-game series that marks the opener in conference play.