It was a tough, aggravating weekend for Jim Penders' baseball nine in Storrs as USF took two of three this weekend as the Baseball History of J.O. Christian Field came to an end. After a 4-2 nail biting win Friday thanks to Anthony Prato's two run homer in the seventh and two great stabs at first by Chris Winkel, the Huskies dropped games of 3-2 and 3-1 Saturday to drop them a game under .500 in the American Conference Standings heading into a big three game series at Tulane beginning Thursday. Where winning two of three is an absolute must if UConn has hopes of making the AAC Tournament.
The problem right now is the lack of a big hit. It's been a problem for seven weeks per Jim Penders. And yes, the word "Choke" has been used by Coach as well. But he shoulders that blame as much much as the players and he'll be the first to say that. If fact he did to Chris Jones during his summary after the JOC Finale. 28 men left on base in the USF Series alone. The Pitching has been for the most part rock solid. Mason Feole has been his old self striking out 21 in his his last two starts. But at least on Friday, a lot of 3-2 counts drove his pitch count up and only went 6 innings.
The Huskies still control their own destiny as Coach Penders feels they might actually be a better road team in 2019. Tulane is 29-22 /11-9 in the American..currently 2nd as ECU has run away with the crown. Expect three more grinders Thursday, Friday and Saturday in New Orleans. There is a lot of quality baseball in the American Conference as we're finding out. Now we need to see the character of this UConn Team to determine if they're good enough to take this season past Memorial Day.