UConn baseball kept its season going, and kept alive its hopes for the Big East championship, with an 11-2 victory over Xavier in Mason, Ohio on Friday.
Ryan Daniels, the conference player of the year, continued his torrid season for the Huskies with a two-RBI double and a solo home run. UConn (38-20) staved off elimination for the second day in a row, and now can win the tournament Saturday, but must beat top-seeded Creighton twice.
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That will be a tall order, as the Bluejays had the day off Friday, while UConn, which lost to Xavier in the first game on Wednesday, has already played three games in three days.
But the Huskies have gotten some of their best pitching of the season. Charlie West pitched into the seventh inning, turning a 10-1 lead over to the bullpen. Sean Finn pitched the last 2 2/3 innings, allowing no hits, striking out six.
UConn’s hopes for an NCAA bid remain on less than solid ground, unless they capture the Big East’s automatic bid. Coming into the day, UConn was 40th in RPI, and among the major bracket projectors, Baseball America had them among the first four out of the field of 64, D1Baseball had them among the last four in. A win over Xavier, which was 35th to begin the day, had to help.
Creighton and UConn shared the regular-season title, but the Bluejays won a head-to-head series on Omaha in April.
The Huskies scored three in the third, one in the fourth and six in the fifth. Rob Rispoli had two hits and three RBI, and Tyler Minick had three hits, as ever player in the lineup got at least one hit.
For Central Connecticut baseball, the NCAA’s top hitting team, line drives reign supreme
Central wins: In the NEC Tournament in Wappingers Falls, N.Y., Central Connecticut rallied with three runs in the sixth to beat No. 2 Wagner, 8-3, and advance in the winners’ bracket. Kyle Gordon’s two-run double in the sixth was a decisive blow, and Brady Short and Chris Brown also knocked in two as Blue Devils coach Charlie Hickey got his 799th career victory. Vincent Borghese (6 1/3 innings) and Wyatt Cameron handled the pitching. Central plays top seed LIU Saturday at 3 p.m. in the winner’s bracket. … In the MAAC at Pomona, N.Y., Fairfield and Quinnipiac remained alive, while Sacred Heart played Marist late Friday to try to join them. Fairfield beat Sacred Heart, 13-3, Thursday.
Originally Published: May 23, 2025 at 8:49 PM EDT
