No. 11 UConn baseball comes back to beat Creighton, 6-3

UConn baseball tied up the series with Creighton with a 6-3 come-from-behind victory on Friday night. Additionally, Xavier lost the middle game of its three-game set with Georgetown, which means the Huskies control their own destiny for a Big East regular season championship.

The Huskies were down 3-1 after seven and Dominic Cancellieri had been keeping them at bay to that point as the road team had generated eight hits. UConn got the bases loaded via a single, hit-by-pitch, and walk with two outs for Luke Broadhurst, who worked a free pass of his own to cut the lead in half, and then Korey Morton followed suit to tie the contest at three runs each.

Catcher Matt Garbowski’s spot in the lineup came up and Jim Penders elected to pinch hit with Ryan Daniels, who has been successful in the role this year. He delivered again, taking a 1-1 pitch for a single that landed in front of a charging Nolan Sailors in center field, bringing home a pair.

UConn added another run in the ninth and Zach Fogell combined with Justin Willis to shut the door. It was Willis’ ninth save of the season.

Andrew Sears had to battle through 3 ²⁄₃ innings on Thursday and while Stephen Quigley had some control problems, issuing four walks, he was able to stay on the mound deep into the game. He surrendered just two hits in six innings of work and had five strikeouts.

However, when Quigley made a mistake, the Bluejays took advantage, as both hits left the yard. Tyler Lozano hit a two-run shot in the fourth after Andrew Meggs led off with a walk, while Ben Gbur took a solo shot over the fence in the fifth inning.

The UConn infielders helped out their pitcher, as they turned two double plays behind Sears, while he stranded his final free pass at first base in the sixth.

Offensively, the visitors had pressure on Cancellieri from the start, but weren’t able to push through for more than one until the eighth.

The Huskies stranded nine runners and it could have been more, as the Bluejays turned three double plays of their own.

UConn (39-13, 14-5 Big East) closes the regular season at 1 p.m. against Creighton on FloSports. Xavier and Georgetown will also begin at 1 p.m.