UConn baseball shows no mercy towards Rhode Island in midweek rout

UConn baseball has played in front of a surprising amount of road fans this season given the ongoing pandemic, but they hadn’t yet put on a show on the road like they did this Tuesday in Kingston, Rhode Island.

The Huskies’ bats came alive as 10 hits, two home runs, and nine walks powered the team to a 15-4 victory, earning the season sweep over their next-door neighbors.

All but one UConn starter recorded a hit, and all but two of them reached base multiple times. Christian Fedko and Chris Winkel led the way, both going 2-for-5 at the plate.

The warning signs were there in the first inning for Rhode Island, when Kyler Fedko singled to lead off the game and Kevin Ferrer walked. A bit of early danger turned into a bad start for the Rams when their second baseman dropped a routine pop fly, scoring Kyler Fedko and Ferrer who were both running on contact.

UConn poured it on in the fourth inning, batting around and scoring four runs on three singles, three walks, and a hit-by-pitch. The Huskies then turned around in the next inning and batted around once again for good measure, getting a free pass on base five times to score five more runs.

Meanwhile, UConn’s makeshift pitching staff was holding down the fort. Reggie Crawford earned his first career start, going 2.2 innings while allowing two walks, one hit, and striking out six to earn his first career win on the mound.

UConn’s bullpen wasn’t without its faults—Joe Simeone got through just 1.0 inning, allowing three hits and two runs, while the Rhodies’ other two earned runs came at the expense of freshman Bobby McBride—but with so many arms available in the midweek, if one wasn’t working, the Huskies were free to move on to the next. Brendan O’Donnell, Garrett Coe, Justin Willis, and Sam Faviere combined to provide 3.2 innings of scoreless ball that allowed the UConn offensive effort to hold up.

UConn added more to the lead in the sixth inning with a pair of home runs from Chris Brown and Erik Stock to make it 14-4, and Reggie Crawford tacked on an RBI single in the seventh to make it 15.

Stock’s impressive performance over the weekend earned him the Big East Player of the Week award, and it was well-deserved. He’s batting .419 since the start of the St. John’s series, with four RBI and five extra-base hits during that span.

UConn will next take on Seton Hall for four games in their final series of the year. The Huskies can finish anywhere from first to fourth in the Big East depending on how things shake out. They need to play one more game to qualify for the Big East Tournament—the conference is requiring teams to complete 14 games in order to be eligible, so it is critical these games are not canceled.

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