After blowing out Georgetown (22-22, 4-8 Big East) in back-to-back games to begin the series, UConn (25-20, 10-5 Big East) notched a 3-2 comeback win on Sunday to earn their first series sweep of the season.
“It’s amazing that it took us this long to get a sweep,” UConn Head Coach Jim Penders said via UConn Baseball on X.
Travis Ilitch picked up its runs on a first-inning fielder’s choice and a third-inning RBI single into right field. Both runs were unearned. Starting pitcher Oliver Pudvar made an error
on a bunt to give the Hoyas an extra out in the first inning, and the Hoyas got another extra out in the third when Jackson Marshall made an error to lead off the inning. Both errors were off the bat of Dylan Larkins.
Despite a shaky first few innings with rough defense to start his outing, Pudvar managed a third straight quality start, lowering his ERA under four for the first time this season.
“Pud settled in,” Penders said. “He was behind a lot early, a lot of 1-0 counts, but he’s not fazed. He’s always competing. Frankly, I thought he was going to be out in the fifth or sixth, and he kinda hung in there.”
Across seven innings, the left-hander allowed just five earned base runners and no earned runs.
The Huskies’ lineup made sure the redshirt junior didn’t leave with a loss. Though it took Marshall all the way until the eighth inning to extend his hitting streak (19) and on-base streak (34) with a single, he gave the Huskies their first run in the fourth with an RBI groundout to score Anthony Belisario after the Huskies’ lead-off man started the frame with a double.
Cam Righi, who had reached via a hit by pitch and advanced to second on the Marshall RBI, moved over to third on a balk from starter Kai Leckszas. That came up big when Nater Wachter sent one back up the middle to complete Righi’s trip around the bases and tie the game at two.
Three innings later, redshirt sophomore captain Rob Rispoli knocked in the winning run to secure Pudvar’s third-straight win.
With two outs, fellow captain Maddix Dalena got hit by a pitch on a 3-2 count. Then Chris Polemeni got on after an error by third baseman Braxton Templin. With a pair of runners on, Rispoli singled through the left side to give the Huskies the lead.
On the day, Rispoli was the only Husky to reach base multiple times, recording two hits and the Huskies’ only walk of the day.
With Pudvar departing after the seventh, swingman Charlie Hale came in to shut the door on the Hoyas, striking out a pair across two scoreless innings to secure the sweep.
The trio of wins moved UConn into third place in the Big East, squarely in place for a conference tournament spot with less than a month to go in the season. Every other team below the Huskies in the standings besides fourth-place Xavier (10-5 Big East) holds a losing record in conference play. UConn sits three losses behind Creighton for first place.
The Huskies will look to keep their season-high five-game winning streak alive when they travel to New Jersey on Tuesday to take on Rutgers (22-22). The Scarlet Knights have won back-to-back contests.
First pitch at Bainton Field in Piscataway is scheduled for 3 p.m. The game will be broadcast live on the Big Ten Network.
