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As UConn baseball aims to push its record above .500, the Huskies held the line, splitting a pair against the University of Portland on Saturday.
The Huskies (8-10) secured a come-from-behind 8-5 win in game one and nearly replicated that in game two before the Pilots (9-7) pulled away in the later innings to hand UConn an 8-6 loss.
In the opener, Jackson Marshall continued his strong start to the season with an RBI single lined over the head of second baseman Jonas Salk in the first. Tyler Minick extended his own resurgent return with an RBI-double to the warning track in the third inning.
That two-run advantage held all the way to the fifth inning, at which point the wheels fell off for UConn starter Charlie West.
After allowing a leadoff double and a bunt single, Brady Bean sent a seed over the left field wall and over the head of Nater Wachter in left for a no-doubter home run. As the ball disappeared into the trees, the Husky lead disappeared with it as the Pilots took a 3-2 lead.
Portland extended that lead two batters later with a runner on first, when Dakota Chun mashed a ball off the scoreboard in right to put two more runs on said board for the Pilots on their second round-tripper of the inning.
West finally made it out of the fifth by recording three straight outs after the Chun homer, and got two more outs in the sixth before his day ended with a walk. The junior finished with five earned runs across five-plus innings of work despite a scoreless first four frames. All five of the left-hander’s strikeouts came within those four innings.
Though neither team threatened in the sixth, the Pilots’ lead lasted just one inning.
The middle of the UConn lineup made sure of that, as Evan Menzel, Wachter, and Gabriel Tirado led off the inning with three straight singles. Tirado’s hit sent Menzel home as the Huskies began to chip away.
That chipping became hammering when Cam Righi sent a bouncing double down the right field line and all the way to the wall. Wachter and Tirado both touched home to make it a fresh ball game and knot it up at five.
A Rob Rispoli single one batter later landed in no man’s land in right field to plate Righi and give UConn the lead.
Chris Polemeni, who is currently batting .418, made sure to make his only hit of the contest count. The outfielder’s screaming line drive into left plated another for the Huskies to grow the lead to a pair.
The next inning, Righi again doubled, this time to the corner in left, to add an insurance run for the Huskies.
It wouldn’t have mattered, as Charlie Hale excelled once again for UConn in relief. Across three innings, the righty kept the Pilots off the board and claimed his second win of the season. The outing was the fourth scoreless multi-inning relief appearance of the year for the junior.
Paxton Meyers came in to retire the final batter and pick up his third save of the season.
Righi, the Huskies’ top performer in game one, posted his second multi-hit performance in three games. It was both the first three-hit and three-RBI showing of the freshman’s young career.
Wachter also had three hits for the Huskies.
Game two’s plot was almost a repeat showing of game one.
The Huskies once again scored first. Righi sent a dribbler to the left side in the top of the second that ate up shortstop Brooks Avery, scoring Polemeni and giving Righi his fourth hit and RBI of the afternoon.
Again, the Pilots erased the UConn lead via a long ball to left. This time, it was Salk who tied the game with a lead-off solo shot in the bottom of the frame, extending the lead before the Huskies’ next turn at bat with an RBI walk from Carter Stewart and a run-scoring fielder’s choice off the bat of Bean.
The Huskies continued their part in the encore with another late-inning rally, this time in the sixth. After grabbing an unearned run off an error by Salk, who traveled too far into right and took a chance away from Landon Kauffman to make a sliding catch, Polemeni sent a three-run home run of his own into the trees in left to smash his third hit of the night and recapture the lead for the Huskies.
However, the Huskies’ big comeback inning wouldn’t be the final chapter to the story this go-around.
Instead, the Pilots rallied right back. Salk made up for his defensive miscue by getting the run back on an RBI double that landed just inside fair territory in right field.
Leo Cote added another two in short order, golfing a ball into the left field parking lot to bring Salk home and retake the 6-5 lead for the Pilots.
Both starter Cayden Suchy and reliever Greg Shaw III experienced uncharacteristic struggles in game two.
Suchy allowed all three runs in the big sixth inning for the Pilots, along with the three in the second, while Shaw III allowed his first earned runs in almost a month.
After his first three starts of the season left him with a 1.83 ERA, the sophomore has come back down to Earth as of late. Eight earned runs over 10.1 innings in his last two starts have ballooned his ERA to 3.60.
The Pilots added an insurance run in both the seventh and eighth, both charged to Shaw III. Chun and Stewart each picked up RBIs to make 8-5.
Down to their final out in the ninth, Polemeni momentarily kept the game alive for the Huskies by dunking a bloop single into shallow center for his fourth hit of the game. The base hit scored one, but it wasn’t enough. Menzel singled a batter later to load the bases, but Wachter struck out to end the game and the Huskies’ final comeback attempt of the evening.
With both teams still looking for the series win, the rubber match is set for 3 p.m. EST Sunday afternoon. The game will stream live on ESPN+. The Huskies are 8-10 going into the weekend finale.
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