The UConn Blog - UConn Baseball Weekend Series: TulaneEscalators are for cowards.https://cdn.vox-cdn.com/community_logos/49593/uconn-fav.png2017-04-15T17:03:20-04:00http://www.theuconnblog.com/rss/stream/150607592017-04-15T17:03:20-04:002017-04-15T17:03:20-04:00UConn Baseball Drops Game 3
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<figcaption>Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog</figcaption>
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<p>After two weekend sweeps of their own, Tulane served one to the Huskies in New Orleans.</p> <p id="fReGkY">UConn Baseball takes an unfortunate sweep on the road as Tulane triumphs in the third game of their weekend series.</p>
<p id="cDFcRa">John Russell gave up back-to-back home runs in the ninth to send it to extra innings and Tulane scored in the 12th to get the win 6-5 on Saturday at Turchin Field. It was the Huskies’ fourth straight loss.</p>
<p id="DB0lVX">Third baseman Willy Yahn had a team-leading three hits. Catcher Zac Susi, right fielder Isaac Feldstein and left fielder John Toppa each had an RBI.</p>
<p id="BmPIap">UConn starter Mason Feole had trouble with control, walking four batters in 5 2/3 innings, but he put the Huskies in a position to win regardless, allowing just two earned runs on five hits. He also struck out eight, tying a career high.</p>
<p id="90ENTd">UConn got off to a hot start, striking for three runs in the top of the first.</p>
<p id="n5mnzr">Center fielder Troy Stefanski and Yahn played hit-and-run, putting runners on the corners for Susi. Tulane starter JP France got the one-out ground ball, but Jake Willsey’s throw went into left field, allowing Stefanski to score.</p>
<p id="GxPKBT">Yahn came home on a groundout by Feldstein and Susi crossed the plate on Toppa’s double.</p>
<p id="mh5d8f">Feole pitched well throughout the early portions of the game but was hardly dominant. He set down the first five he faced, but Tulane had runners in scoring position in the second and fourth before breaking through for a pair in the fifth.</p>
<p id="M5K5bF">Willsey broke the shutout with an RBI double and came around to score when Lex Kaplan beat out the back half of a double play ball to cut the UConn lead to 3-2.</p>
<p id="fr2hMN">In the seventh, the Huskies executed some trickery to perfection. Shortstop Anthony Prato was on third and Yahn was on second. He faked towards third and fell down, forcing Tulane to have to run over and tag him for the final out of the inning. However, Paul Gozzo’s throw to second went into center field and both valuable insurance runs scored for a 5-2 UConn advantage.</p>
<p id="1oCxW6">However, Tulane got a run in the seventh off of a lead-off walk and then back-to-back home runs in the ninth by Kaplan and Hunter Williams put the game into extra innings.</p>
<p id="ZicODK">Tulane ended it in the 12th when Jarret DeHart led off with a walk. He moved to second on a sacrifice bunt and came around to score when Grant Brown singled into left-center field. Stefnaski’s throw short-hopped Susi and DeHart was safe.</p>
<p id="tmrudX">UConn (19-14, 6-3) is in action next against Quinnipiac at home on Monday. First pitch is at 3 p.m.</p>
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https://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/4/15/15313284/uconn-baseball-drops-game-3Shawn McGrath2017-04-14T22:15:21-04:002017-04-14T22:15:21-04:00Tulane Wins Game 2 in New Orleans
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<figcaption>Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog</figcaption>
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<p>Free bases did the Huskies in on Saturday night in a game where runs were hard to find.</p> <p id="HEXzEm">UConn Baseball dropped its second straight game on Saturday night at Turchin Stadium as Tulane clinched a series victory over the Huskies by a score of 3-1.</p>
<p id="SGKVUU">UConn was held to four hits and catcher Zac Susi delivered the Huskies’ only RBI.</p>
<p id="707THz">Wills Montgomerie gave UConn a good outing on the mound, allowing three runs on five hits. He walked three and struck out 11 across six innings.</p>
<p id="41NHpR">It was a pitcher’s duel through the early and middle stages of the game. The teams traded a run each in the fourth, with UConn’s coming off of a double by Susi, but that was all either team had through the first five innings.</p>
<p id="xbqroC">The Huskies did not have a runner reach until the third and did not see another reach scoring position until the seventh.</p>
<p id="yW3QEK">Corey Merrill was only hurt by the lead-off walk he gave up in the fourth, but other than that he threw exceptionally well. The Huskies had only three hits off of the right-hander and he allowed two walks, striking out five.</p>
<p id="AJN6br">Until Montgomerie hit trouble in the sixth, it was smooth sailing for him as well. In his first five innings, he walked only one batter and that was the batter that scored in the fourth.</p>
<p id="OG1WTH">Like the fourth, it was the free bases that did Montgomerie in. To open the frame, Tulane loaded the bases with a walk sandwiched by singles and the first run came across on a balk. The Green Wave got another on a ground out to first baseman Chris Winkel, who just barely kept it in the infield.</p>
<p id="1UwNbS">UConn had a chance to mount a comeback with a lead-off double by Feldstein in the seventh, but Merrill and Christian Colletti combined to retire the final nine Husky batters in order to clinch the series for Tulane.</p>
<p id="ciLLUs">UConn (19-13, 6-2) looks to salvage a win on Saturday in the series finale with a 12 p.m. first pitch. Mason Feole is the probable starter for the Huskies.</p>
https://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/4/14/15310352/tulane-wins-game-2-in-new-orleansShawn McGrath2017-04-13T22:29:41-04:002017-04-13T22:29:41-04:00Tulane Ends UConn Baseball’s Conference Streak
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<figcaption>Willy Yahn had two hits in the loss for the Huskies. | Ian Bethune for The UConn Blog</figcaption>
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<p>The Huskies had another bad inning do them in on Thursday.</p> <p id="J1iMKJ">UConn Baseball’s six-game conference winning streak came to an end on Thursday at Turchin Field in New Orleans, as the Tulane Green Wave got the best of the Huskies, 8-3.</p>
<p id="f5Wdv4">Tim Cate had a rocky start but was not helped by his defense. He threw five innings, allowing eight runs, only three of which were earned, on eight huts. He struck out five and walked two.</p>
<p id="BGAfxK">Third baseman Willy Yahn (2-for-4), left fielder John Toppa (2-for-2) and his replacement Troy Stefanski (2-for-2) each had multiple hits, while second baseman Jack Lambrecht had two RBI.</p>
<p id="4Z6RJX">UConn got a run in the second courtesy of a single by center fielder Keith Krueger, but on the ensuing single by shortstop Anthony Prato, he took too sharp of a turn around second and was tagged out trying to get back to the bag.</p>
<p id="OeIjZH">As the game progressed into the middle stages, the Huskies had chances, as they left at least one runner on in each of their first six at-bats, but the only run came from Krueger. </p>
<p id="CKj8cA">In the bottom of the third, Tulane took advantage of some good fortune to score seven runs and effectively put it away, when it should have been four or fewer.</p>
<p id="tHBHFz">Hunter Williams gave the Green Wave the lead with a two-run single and after a strikeout, the flood gates opened.</p>
<p id="dHh8b8">Cate loaded the bases with a walk and Grant Brown reached when third baseman Willy Yahn took a hard bouncing ball off of his chest and took an error.</p>
<p id="i2kryW">Jake Willsey appeared to end the inning with a popup just into the outfield, but it fell harmlessly to the turf when shortstop Anthony Prato lost it in the lights. It cleared the bases and Willsey came around to score from second when Paul Gozzo singled.</p>
<p id="UK9Uxs">Tulane sent 11 men to the plate and they got five hits to take a 7-1 lead.</p>
<p id="mfQ99q">They added another in the fifth when Hunter Hope hit a tape-measure shot over the left field wall when Cate grooved a fastball for an 8-1 advantage.</p>
<p id="7FTAIW">The Huskies got two runs in the eighth on a double by Lambrecht, but it was not enough to complete a comeback.</p>
<p id="2QJdOF">UConn (19-12, 6-1) and Tulane resume their series on Friday at 7:30 p.m. with Wills Montgomerie on the mound for the Huskies.</p>
https://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/4/13/15296684/tulane-ends-uconn-baseballs-conference-streakShawn McGrath2017-04-13T11:20:22-04:002017-04-13T11:20:22-04:00UConn Baseball Weekend Preview: Tulane
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<figcaption>Willy Yahn and the Huskies hope to continue their strong start to conference play in New Orleans.</figcaption>
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<p>Despite the Green Wave’s season not going as anticipated, they are still a dangerous team.</p> <p id="qq30sK">UConn Baseball has had a hot start to conference play. The Huskies’ 6-0 mark is the best since 1976 and since dropping their <a href="http://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/3/16/14955066/uconn-baseball-weekend-series-at-byu">series to BYU</a> to close out Spring Break the Huskies have only lost three games, going 10-3 mark in 13 contests.</p>
<p id="JANURZ">Freshman shortstop Anthony Prato has been an integral part of the success from the leadoff spot in the order. He has an 11-game hitting streak going and has notched a hit in 19 of his last 21 games, failing to reach base safely only once in that streak.</p>
<p id="0fs1tI">Catcher Zac Susi has a 10-game streak of his own and has multiple hits in four of his last five games, coming off American Athletic Conference player of the week honors.</p>
<p id="0v8ymR">The pitching has come through strong, especially in conference play.</p>
<p id="PJ9MoF">Including Wills Montgomerie’s start where he allowed seven hits to 11 batters against Memphis, who scored five earned runs in two innings, the Huskies’ pitching staff has a batting average against of .228 and an ERA of 1.64.</p>
<p id="u1Eavn">After an eight-run sixth inning for Bryant in a <a href="http://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/4/11/15264382/uconn-baseball-falls-to-bryant">9-3 loss against the Bulldogs</a> on Tuesday, UConn looks to rebound down south to New Orleans, when the Huskies take on Tulane (15-18, 4-2) for a weekend series.</p>
<p id="pVdgKa">To prepare for the series, we talked to <a href="http://twitter.com/fearthewaveblog">JP Gooderham</a> of <a href="http://FearTheWave.com">FearTheWave.com</a> about the team.</p>
<p id="JrKhSH"><strong>The UConn Blog: </strong>Are you pleased about <a href="https://twitter.com/NTGraff/status/716620534444920832">no snow-outs</a> and no suspensions of games due to daylight due to the series being played down south?</p>
<p id="QMemaI"><strong>Fear the Wave: </strong>You know what they say. There's nothing like a two-game series up in Storrs in the snow. But seriously, no big weather issues for us this year so life is good. We appreciated your weather reporting last year. Glad The UConn Blog put you on the Jim Cantore beat.</p>
<p id="4XDqXF"><strong>TUCB: </strong>What happened in the non-conference? There were a couple of long losing streaks and few wins to speak of. Was it a case of a strong schedule or something different?</p>
<p id="6EBEAX"><strong>FTW: </strong>For the most part, something different. Tulane entered the year with a Top 25 ranking in some polls and then proceeded to start 3-12. Not ideal. You had to go back to the Kennedy Administration to find the last time that kind of stretch happened to our program to begin a year.</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-17242754853036104226EBEAX">During that stretch, nothing was working. The offense - which lost two very talented players in the Top 100 picks of the MLB Draft last year - was stagnant. We expected that bullpen depth could be an issue this year, but what was even more troubling was that our starters all endured some really rough first outings.</p>
<p id="dGID8m">You can add some just freaky luck into that mix. Our catcher Jeremy Montalbano was trucked by a WVU player at the plate and had his season ended in a pretty suspicious play. Our freshman All-American pitcher and Sunday starter hit an early season slump and isn't in the rotation right now.</p>
<p id="VefHTB">Things did not look good.</p>
<p id="9rLavq">Since the Ides of March though (when Tulane secured a key in-state win in extra innings), the team turned around and has been 12-6 with back-to-back AAC series victories, which brings us up to now.</p>
<p id="bKpQBj"><strong>TUCB:</strong> What went right? There was a win at LSU in there.</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-1724275485303610422Rlv2am"><strong>FTW: </strong>That was an important one. A gritty road win against in-state ULL was another key stepping stone for the team's confidence. In my mind, the club noticeably improved in two factors.</p>
<p id="wYXq1L">First, the new guys came into their own. We have a number of freshmen who started to gel during this stretch. They started to make clutch plays on defense and find ways to drive in runs at the plate. Once that group started to mesh, I think Tulane was able to do to the little things that it takes to win close ones, where nearly all of those went against us during the stretch of darkness.</p>
<p id="Rlv2am">Second, starting pitchers Corey Merrill and JP France found their groove again. As I mentioned, I would have cited our weekend rotation as the strength of the team coming into this year. In the early games, that was not the case, and it was a real shock to the system. Nonetheless, Merrill and France were able to shake that off and have both returned to form over the past month. That's been a huge factor for keeping us in games early and reducing pressure on our thin bullpen.</p>
<p id="xyNmSY"><strong>TUCB:</strong> What has changed in conference play where the Wave have come out in second place in the conference?</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-1724275485303610422SYA2mc"><strong>FTW: </strong>I think in addition to the above, the team is playing the way that we thought they were capable of at the right time.</p>
<p id="hOtwHI">USF had only two losses coming into the Tulane series for our AAC opener and they walked away with another two. Cincy was essentially out of it after the early innings of both the first and the second game last weekend.</p>
<p id="4y7Kil">The biggest aspect I would highlight would be the return of power hitting that has been crucial to Tulane over the last couple of years. Hunter Williams has been on an incredible run, really going back to the Oxford Regional last season, and he's continued this year.</p>
<p id="SYA2mc">We saw a 4-HR game last night, and those types of performances have become a lot more common in the last few weeks.</p>
<p id="CgAVkd"><strong>TUCB: </strong>There was lots of roster attrition. How much is the team missing guys like Jake Rogers and Stephen Alemais?</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-1724275485303610422NOM1Ux"><strong>FTW: </strong>This is true. We actually saw those two players (who are now Top 30 prospects in the Astros and Pirates' systems respectively) replaced by twins Sal and Paul Gozzo.</p>
<p id="ux5Sd2">Sal, a freshman, has been really impressive at shortstop. In Alemais's heyday, he was a machine at producing double plays, and that has continued into this year with Tulane far ahead of the rest of the league.</p>
<p id="NOM1Ux">I would cite the pitching staff as the bigger area where we are still trying to see a few guys emerge, especially to fill the Sunday starter role and the bullpen.</p>
<p id="ow6m5k"><strong>TUCB:</strong> What’s the outlook looking forward? Should we expect conference Tulane come the end of the year or non-conference Tulane?</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-1724275485303610422mrkh00"><strong>FTW: </strong>I'm feeling pretty confident that conference Tulane has arrived and isn't going anywhere. The turnaround of the hitting and the consistency of Merrill and France have been huge steps in the right direction, and Tulane has room to get better still.</p>
<p id="R45bgK">UConn has a really good club again, and I think this weekend is a big test to see where we stand. And we'll even get three games in this series, unlike last year. It's lit.</p>
<p id="clLkTQ"><strong>TUCB:</strong> Who are the probable starters?</p>
<p id="Ibdz2t"><strong>FTW: </strong>You're going to see Sam Bjorngjeld (making his first "weekend" rotation start on Thursday), Corey Merrill, and JP France.</p>
<p id="8JIylh"><strong>TUCB:</strong> Who are some offensive players to watch out for?</p>
<p id="niOqFQ"><strong>FTW: </strong>Hunter Williams, who is known as Big Country, is the power guy. He's hitting .364 to boot with .576 slugging, and he gets it done in the clutch quite a bit. Grant Witherspoon leads off typically and has done a great job in that role. He's hitting .326 on the year. When we can get runners in scoring position for Big Country, things are usually going to go our way.</p>
<p id="itxs1c">Hunter Hope has returned to the lineup from an injury and his numbers won't "wow" you on the stat sheet, but he's been excellent since his return last week while hitting .388 with two home runs.</p>
<p id="r0PdlO"><strong>TUCB:</strong> Any special relievers?</p>
<p id="CRJQUm"><strong>FTW: </strong>We're still working that part out. We are starting to see a few guys find some consistency, especially as a closer. Christian Colletti has three saves now and comes in for the 8th and 9th a lot. He's one of those guys who can have runners on base but find a way out. Brandon Issa has been pretty reliable lately too.</p>
<p id="qYffbD"><strong>TUCB:</strong> Give me your best prediction for the series.</p>
<p id="gmail-m_-1724275485303610422GV7ZJH"><strong>FTW: </strong>I respect this UConn club a lot. I also see the Huskies - like every northeastern team in history - have some top MLB prospect left hander ace in their rotation again. I'm telling you, something about northern teams. They always have that guy.</p>
<p id="GV7ZJH">Nevertheless, Tulane is playing its best ball and the hitting has been hot. I think the Green Wave brings more fire power than ECU or Memphis had and we see Tulane win the rubber match for a 2-1 series victory. That's my gut right now.</p>
<p id="aisEDV">First pitches on Thursday and Friday at Turchin Stadium are both at 7:30 p.m., while Saturday’s series finale is at 2 p.m. Tim Cate, Wills Montgomerie and Mason Feole will go to the mound, with Cate’s start on Thursday being televised on <a href="https://youtu.be/xpw41DUlBUY">The American Digital Network</a>.</p>
https://www.theuconnblog.com/2017/4/13/13472700/uconn-baseball-weekend-preview-tulaneShawn McGrath