Break out the brooms.
UConn baseball (30-22, 13-5 Big East) completed its second sweep of the season on Sunday with a 7-3 win over the Seton Hall Pirates (15-28, 2-16).
Designated hitter Chris Polemeni drove in five runs behind a third inning grand slam as part of a 2-5 day. Four other Huskies recorded multiple hits on the day as well. On the mound, Oliver Pudvar tossed 6.0 innings, allowing just two runs while striking out five.
For the second straight day, Maddix Dalena got the scoring started for
UConn with a base hit into right center to score Anthony Belisario from third with ease. The Huskies’ center fielder led off the game with a single before advancing to second on ground out and swiping third to end up 90 feet away.
Jackson Marshall also worked a walk in the opening frame but got picked off at first. The free pass did extend his on-base streak to 41 games and ultimately reached base five times on the day.
Despite the early score, the path to a win wasn’t straight. By the end of the first inning, UConn faced a deficit.
The Pirates took their first and only lead of the day on a two-run single from Nick Tomasetto in the bottom of the frame that scored runners from first and second. Tomasetto was the Pirates’ most consistent threat throughout the weekend, going 6 for 11 (.545) in the series.
That slim one-run lead was obliterated with one swing of the bat in the third inning. A pair of walks from Marshall and Nater Wachter with a Dalena single sandwiched in between loaded the bases for Polemeni. On a hitter’s count, he walloped a ball over the left field wall for a grand slam to take a 5-1 lead. The home run marked the second straight series finale in which the Huskies have scored the game winning run on a grand slam.
Polemeni also picked up another RBI an inning later on a single to bring Marshall home after a walk, while Wachter added a run with a sac fly to take a 7-2 lead.
Though the Huskies were finished scoring for the day by the end of the fourth, the five-run lead was plenty for Pudvarh. The left-hander secured both his fifth-straight quality start and win by going six innings. The redshirt junior didn’t allow another run after the first.
After another stellar outing from Pudvar, relief ace Greg Shaw III came in to slam the door on the Pirates. He pitched the final three innings of the game and secured his third save of the season, allowing only one run on a Shea Grady RBI double with two already gone in the bottom of the ninth.
Across the weekend, the Huskies outscored the Pirates 24 to 7.
That number is just three more than the Huskies put up against Northeastern back on March 31 in a seven inning run-rule victory. UConn will host the other Huskies for a rematch later this week at Elliot Ballpark on Tuesday.
The contest will be a warm up for the Huskies’ most important series of the season up to this point. After sweeping Seton Hall, the Huskies currently sit in a three-way tie for first place in the Big East with St. John’s (27-23, 13-5) and Xavier (25-27, 13-5 Big East). That means the conference regular season championship will come down to next weekend’s home series against Villanova (18-28, 4-14 Big East).
First pitch against Northeastern is scheduled for 6:05 p.m. The game will stream live on UConn+.
