When Maddix Dalena bounced a soft chopper up the middle in the top of the third inning, it should have sent the Monarchs back to the plate after another scoreless frame from Old Dominion starter Darin Kuskie.
Instead, shortstop Will Johnson bobbled the ball while moving to his right. By the time he had picked it up and recovered to fire an offline throw to the left of home plate, Chris Polemeni had already sliding in safely for UConn’s first run of the day.
That botched grounder proved to be one of
four errors for Old Dominion on the day, as UConn baseball capitalized with superior defense and timely hitting to take a 4-2 victory in game one of their series against Old Dominion.
Johnson made another fielding error in the top of the fourth to bring his total on the day to two. Third baseman Cash Jay also made an infield error while a failed pickoff attempt by relief pitcher Patrick Johnson in the seventh advanced Bryce Detwiler to second.
Evan Menzel also had an error of his own for the Huskies, his third in the last two games. The sophomore has now committed six errors on the year, four more than any other UConn player. Still, the UConn defense showed more good than bad on the day.
That all started in the first inning, when catcher Chris Cancel made one of the best plays of his young career. The sophomore catcher snared a low bounce on a throw that led him directly into a collision with ODU’s Zach Leite. The resulting impact sent Leite flying towards home and Cancel to his back, but the catcher held on to the ball through the contact to end the inning and keep the game scoreless.
Though neither team recorded an extra base hit, the Huskies hit well enough with runners on that it didn’t matter.
Dalena was rewarded a single but not an RBI for his aforementioned run-scoring hit, Nater Wachter and Chase Taylor each drove home runs during a big fifth inning for both teams. Both hits went through the left side of the infield but Taylor, benefitted from a slow reaction from the Monarchs’ defense. His single netted two runs for UConn after left fielder Tyler Zedalis took his time in getting the ball back in.
Old Dominion got two back in the bottom of the frame. Leite walked with the bases loaded to drive in the first and Zadalis singled one batter later with the bases still juiced to drive in another. The Monarchs started off the inning with a pair of singles followed by Menzel’s fielding error. In a bit of irony, it was Johnson who reached base on the error.
Prior to that inning, West was on pace for his second scoreless start of the season. The junior had thrown four shutout innings and punched out two apiece in the latter two.
Despite the rough final inning, West’s final line came in at a respectable five innings of two-run ball. Though the left hander gave up eight hits, he walked only one and struck out five on his way to the win.
Paxton Meyers came on in relief of West and hit the ground running, taking it the rest of the way and earning his second save of the season. The graduate transfer from Brown gave the Huskies four scoreless innings and struck out five while allowing just two base runners.
Polemeni stayed hot with another multi-hit performance, his third in his last four games. The right fielder thumped a pair of singles, worked a walk and stole a base. That swipe extended Polemeni’s team lead to seven. The redshirt junior now carries a five-game stolen base streak.
Jackson Marshall, Wachter and Dalena all also posted two-hit performances.
UConn will be back on the field in Norfolk, Virginia tomorrow afternoon for game two of the series against the Monarchs. First pitch is scheduled for 2 p.m. on ESPN+.
