UConn baseball takes series at Miami (FL)
INTRO
Friday: UConn 7, Miami (FL) 2
Olivar Pudvar got his second chance at a start Friday and turned out an impressive five innings of one-run ball. The lefty kept himself out of trouble by keeping hitters off base, limiting the Hurricanes to just five hits and two walks in 21 batters faced.
UConn’s offense looked much more patient than it had in past games. Hitters fought to work counts and drive up Miami starter Nick Robert’s pitch count in the early frames. They broke through with a monstrous six-run third inning, sending nine hitters to the plate to rack up a lead they would never relinquish. Rob Rispoli walked with one out and broke up what would be an inning-ending double play on a steal as Caleb Shpur grounded to the shortstop for a fielder’s choice. With two outs, Tyler Minick singled to score Rispoli before Ryan Daniels doubled, scoring Minick. Grant MacArthur walked, as did Bryan Padilla, and Sam Biller brought them all home on a grand slam to right-center field.
Just like that, UConn held a 6-0 lead, knocking Roberts out after 3 2⁄3 innings pitched. The Hurricanes answered back in the fourth, getting their lone run off Pudvar, but UConn stretched its lead back out to six in the top of the seventh. Aidan Dougherty caused some chaos on the bases, stealing second after he was hit by a pitch and then taking third on a wild pitch. Connor Lane singled and scored him before Rispoli flew out to end the inning.
Succeeding Pudvar on the mound was Gabe Van Emon, who tossed 1 2⁄3 innings in relief, giving up an earned run despite not allowing a hit. That run came in the seventh inning, when Van Emon got his first two hitters to fly out before surrendering one of his two walks to Miami’s Michael Torres. He was relieved by Jude Abbadessa, who gave up two-straight hits, scoring Torres before a fielder’s choice wrapped up the inning.
JT Caruso got a chance to face his former team, toeing the rubber in the eighth inning. He had a scoreless outing, working around a leadoff walk to keep the game at 7-2. He would go out to start the ninth, but another leadoff walk drew Jim Penders out of the dugout to call upon his closer. Brady Afthim induced a double play on the first pitch he threw before getting the final hitter to fly out to Caleb Shpur in center field.
Saturday: UConn 12, Miami (FL) 8
The Huskies snagged their first series win in 2025 with Saturday’s victory over the Hurricanes.
The visitors put their foot on the gas from the first hitter, as Rob Rispoli worked a walk, followed by a Tyler Minick two-bagger, putting two runners in scoring position for Ryan Daniels. He got the first of three hits on the evening, driving in both with a double of his own. He came around to score when he stole third and catcher Tanner Smith’s throw got into left field.
Miami (FL) responded with a run in the second and three more in the third, before taking the lead in the fourth. Ian Cooke was on the mound for all five tallies, four of which came off of home runs. He pitched 4 2⁄3 innings, with five runs on six hits. He did not walk a batter and struck out a pair of Hurricanes.
The hosts’ lead did not last long, as Daniels got hits team to within one with an RBI single in the fifth. The ball took a bad hop on right fielder Derek Williams, enabling Minick to score all the way from first. Grant MacArthur got him across the plate on a double into the gap, then Bryan Padilla put UConn in front with a knock of his own.
Rispoli put the Huskies in front by two with a productive out in the sixth and the team left no doubt with a five-run eighth, with eight hitters getting to the plate.
UConn loaded the bases with two outs, forcing the Hurricanes to go to the bullpen to face Minick. He tapped a 2-2 breaking ball up and away down the third base line and it was enough to bring home a run, while Daniels walked to bring in another and MacArthur dunked a single into center field to put runners on the corners. He would end the frame trying to take second, but was held up long enough to let Daniels cross the plate.
Miami added a pair of runs in the eighth and another in the ninth, but the tying run would never get closer than the on-deck circle.
Sunday: Miami (FL) 15, UConn 11
Sundays can always take a turn for the bizarre, as the teams know each other well and teams are often testing their pitching depth. It was one of those kinds of games in the series finale, as UConn threw seven arms and walked 10 hitters, while the two defenses committed three errors and the offenses combined for 26 runs on 24 hits.
Rob Rispoli, Tyler Minick and Grant MacArthur each had three hits, but the rest of the UConn linup was 2-for-24.
The Huskies scored first, grabbing a pair of runs on a MacArthur home run, his first of two on the day, but the Hurricanes snagged five in the second and three more in the third, going up 8-2 in short order.
Starter Thomas Ellisen got just four outs, with five runs, four of which were earned, on four hits. He walked and hit a batter each, as well, with one strikeout. Charlie West walked the only hitter he faced and the control was no better for Devin Wolff, who issued three free passes. He was able to finish the second, but not before two more runs were charged to him. Sam Hutchinson, at 2 1⁄3 innings, had the longest outing of a Husky arm on the day.
From there, every time UConn tried to gain some momentum and start to claw back, Miami was there to match it. Minick knocked a two-run shot as part of a three-run fifth and the Hurricanes were right there to match it with three of their own. The same thing happened in the sixth, as Minick had a two-run double, but the hosts scored a pair in the bottom half.
The Huskies grabbed four in the eighth to get within two runs, which was capped off by MacArthur’s second home run and third hit overall, but the hosts got two of them back. The Huskies then went down in order in the ninth, unable to draw any closer.
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UConn (4-8) begins midweek play with its home opener on Tuesday against LIU. First pitch is at 3:05 p.m. and will be broadcast on UConn+.
