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Going into its final weekend series of the season, a four-game set against Seton Hall, UConn baseball could have ended up anywhere from fourth to first. The Huskies won all four games convincingly to secure the top seed in the Big East Tournament and conference regular season title.
With final scores of 11-4, 15-1, 12-4, and 10-2 over the weekend, Jim Penders’ squad put an exclamation mark on the regular season and even earned a shoutout from Connecticut governor Ned Lamont. It was a tremendous way for the series to go down as the brand new Elliot Park was open to the public for the first time.
The Huskies are now 24th in RPI and hold a 30-16 record, 13-4 in the conference. They’ll play 4-seed Xavier on Thursday, May 27 at 6:30 p.m. to start the double-elimination tournament that will conclude on May 30.
The Huskies are the BIG EAST Regular Season Champs! #RollSkies | #HookC pic.twitter.com/mcHUA072MY
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 22, 2021
Four players on the Huskies finished the regular season with 11 home runs, including Kyler Fedko, who led the team with a .402 batting average while driving in 46 RBI. Reggie Crawford was the team’s RBI leader with 55 and also had 11 homers on the season.
On the mound, ace Ben Casparius finished the regular season with 13 starts, posting a 7-4 record and a 3.33 ERA with 110 strikeouts in 81 innings pitched. Fellow starter Austin Peterson started 12 games with a 2.75 ERA and 69 strikeouts in 68.2 innings pitched.
This is the Huskies’ first regular season conference title since winning the Big East in 2011. Penders has compared the talent level of this year’s team favorably to that 2011 Husky squad, which made the NCAA Tournament Super Regionals and featured multiple future MLB pros.
What a first year at this gem!
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBSB) May 23, 2021
16-1 record, .325 AVG, 27 Dingers and averaged 9 runs per game!
Can't wait for #HookC nation to pack Elliot next year! pic.twitter.com/A1OxVjaHob
2021 BIG EAST Baseball Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 27 – BIG EAST Digital Network
Game 1: #2 Creighton vs. #3 Seton Hall, 2:30 p.m. ET
Game 2: #1 UConn vs. #4 Xavier, 6:30 p.m. ET (approx.)
Friday, May 28 – BEDN
Losers’ bracket/Elimination Game at 2:30 p.m. ET (Game 3)
Winners’ bracket at 6:30 p.m. ET (Game 4) (approx.)
Saturday, May 29 – BEDN
Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser (Elimination Game) at 2:30 p.m. ET
Sunday, May 30 – Championship (FS2)
Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner at 1 p.m. ET**an If-necessary game will be played at 4:30 p.m. ET should the Game 4 winner lose **
Postgame video
Kyler Fedko:
https://youtu.be/2bcsBQ4Y0kU
Head Coach Jim Penders:
https://youtu.be/wJrmKnmPN7A