UConn baseball (18-16) picked up a third-straight win on Tuesday, holding on to a 6-2 road victory over the Bryant Bulldogs (17-13).
Making his fourth start of the season, UConn right-hander Charlie Hale allowed just one run in a short three-inning opener stint. The junior gave up five hits — four of which were singles — but struck out four Bulldogs.
The only Bryant run against Hale came in the second inning. After surrendering singles to three of the first four batters in the frame, he temporarily
avoided damage by inducing a groundball towards third that Maddix Dalena fired home for the force out.
The fielder’s choice only delayed the Bulldogs from adding runs to the board. One batter later, Hale hit Bryant first baseman Casey Wensley while ahead in the count 2-1 to force the first run of the game across.
Hale rebounded the following inning, working around a double with a pair of strikeouts. Before that, in the top of the inning, his teammates ensured he wouldn’t depart the game with a deficit.
After Chris Polemeni worked a full count walk, Cam Righi replaced him on the basepaths after grounding the first pitch of his at bat into a fielder’s choice. Righi stole second and then came all the way around when Tyler Minick drove him home on a soft single back up the middle.
Bryant temporarily took back the lead in the fifth with Austin Trumpour on the mound for the Huskies. Trumpour, who had previously started his last two appearances before entering out of the bullpen in this one, threw a mostly clean fourth before running into trouble an inning later.
With a pair of runners on the corners courtesy of two singles, right fielder Charlie Saul dropped a bunt down the first base line with the safety squeeze on to score the Bulldogs’ second and final run of the game.
From there, it was all UConn.
Two batters after Saul, graduate reliever Paxton Meyers entered the game and took it the rest of the way for the Huskies. The former Brown University starter went 4.2 scoreless innings to the finish line to secure his first win with UConn.
Aiding Meyers in earning his first victory were five scoring plays from the lineup in the later innings.
The first two came in the sixth as a sac fly from Rob Rispoli and a wild pitch from the hand of Bulldogs’ reliever Greg Gorman gave the Huskies their first lead of the contest.
That slim one-run advantage held until the final inning when UConn took advantage of multiple defensive miscues by second baseman Mike Fiatarone.
After the first error left a pair on, Righi smashed a double down the left line to score the lead runner. Though Polemeni got thrown out at home on a fielder’s choice off the bat of Minick, another run came around to score on Fiatarone’s second error of the inning on a Jackson Marshall grounder.
Earlier in the game, Marshall extended his on-base streak to 23 games with a double in the second inning. The first baseman was the only Husky with multiple hits.
Marshall got picked off to end the inning but stayed alive long enough to allow Minick to score the final run of the game. All three runs in the ninth were unearned.
One out away from ending the game, Meyers conceded a double to left fielder Hunter Kingsbury. Unfazed, Meyers got Saul to fly out two pitches later to end it.
The Huskies will carry their three game winning streak into this weekend against Butler, UConn’s first Big East road series of the season. Game one will take place Friday at 3 p.m. at Bulldog Park.
