UConn baseball takes victory over Bryant

UConn baseball moved to 2-0 against regional opponents on Wednesday as the Huskies fought off a loss in Monday’s finale against UC San Diego with a 9-1 victory over Bryant.

Bryant surrendered the first nine runs of the contest, only grabbing a tally in the top of the eighth. Erik Stock led the way on offense with a 3-5 performance, adding two RBI. Chris Brown also had a multi-hit game, while TC Simmons had a trio of RBI, two of which came on productive outs.

Cole Chudoba pitched the game’s first four innings and earned the win, scattering five hits across his shutout outing. He also struck out seven Bulldogs and hit one batter. He was followed up by a quintuplet of Husky relievers, including clean innings from Hector Alejandro, Ian Cooke and Devin Kirby, each of whom recorded one punch out.

Stock broke the scoreless tie in the first inning after Chudoba surrendered just one hit in the top of the first. Stock drilled his second home run of the season to left-center field and it was 1-0 early.

The Huskies truly put the game away in the middle innings, plating a trio of runs in each of the third and fourth. It was Stock who got it started again in the third, recording a single and stealing second to get a runner in scoring position, but he was retired on a fielder’s choice.

Simmons came to the plate with runners on second and third with one out, after a walk and a wild pitch, getting the job done with a ground out to bring home Ben Huber, while Casey Dana would cross the plate on the second wild pitch for Bulldog pitching in the frame for a 3-0 advantage.

Matt Donlan, who walked and was one of eight free passes taken on the afternoon, reached second on the wild pitch and scored on a Simmons single up the middle.

In the following frame, Stock and Huber reached on a double and a walk, respectively, while Dana did the damage with a triple over the left fielder’s head, bringing both home. He would touch the plate after a Simmons sacrifice fly.

Simmons also would drill a solo home run in the sixth, his third of the year, while a ground out off the bat of Stock in the following frame delivered the final UConn run.

The Huskies’ pitching was dominant all afternoon, as a runner did not reach scoring position with less than two outs at any point in the game and only surrendered two hits in an inning once.

UConn (15-4) will play a split series with Rhode Island this weekend. Friday and Sunday’s contests will be at Elliot Ballpark, while the middle game will be at Beck Field in Kingston, Rhode Island. Friday’s first pitch is slated for 3:05 p.m.