- Joined
- Aug 26, 2011
- Messages
- 91,489
- Reaction Score
- 349,816
I was also at the game and agree with your comments. The offense is potent and they'll score runs. They're also extremely patient at the plate. Nobody chases. Tough lineup to get through. The issue will be whether they can get anyone out (versus good to very good competition). Korey Morton is poised to have a fantastic season (i.e. ~All-American type stuff). Freeberger looks like a solid addition and can hit for average. They'll be in a lot of high-scoring games this spring should be fun.I was at the game today, I left in the middle of the 9th inning when the score was 13-6 UConn.
UConn's starting lineup for today's game:
Smith 2B
Morton RF
Freeberger 3B
Huber 1B
Simmons CF
Padilla SS
Garbowski C
Dalena DH
Studley LF
Ian Cooke was the starting pitcher. Cooke pitched 2 innings, gave up 3 runs in the 1st, and then had a quick scoreless 2nd inning. Other UConn pitchers who appeared while I was at the game:
3rd inning - Quinn
4th, 5th inning - Mike Quigley
6th inning - Pascarella
7th inning - Nowak
8th, 9th inning - Ellisen
In addition, Broadhurst and Brini came into the game for Dalena and Studley around the 8th inning.
UConn offense certainly looked good, and they took advantage of a few Fordham misplays. Good to see Simmons back on the field. Freeberger especially continues to impress, it seemed he was on base all day in addition to his home run.
I was also at the game and agree with your comments. The offense is potent and they'll score runs. They're also extremely patient at the plate. Nobody chases. Tough lineup to get through. The issue will be whether they can get anyone out (versus good to very good competition). Korey Morton is poised to have a fantastic season (i.e. ~All-American type stuff). Freeberger looks like a solid addition and can hit for average. They'll be in a lot of high-scoring games this spring should be fun.
They didn’t throw Sears, Sully, and most of the other top arms. With that said 8 runs is a lot to give up to an awful team (even in 13 innings) and I am surprised Cookie struggled.
Fordham, URI, a travel high school team and our alumni are not exactly Arkansas, Texas, Florida and ECU. With that said, we massacred all of them and played good defense in all of those games. I’m optimistic so long the starting pitching is respectable.
Maybe we can be like the Rays and utilize the pen if we have starting pitching issues.
I agree. The bats and gloves should be fine. Like others said playing time will be hard to come by. Daniels, Brini, etc. would be starting for a lot of other Division 1 teams. So no worries there at all the depth is great. Yes, they have a ton of good arms but the pitching will be a WIP early in the season and will have to take shape. Having Petey and Gallagher as 1/2 was really nice I didn't fully appreciate it until now. If they get any type of pitching they'll be hard to beat.They didn’t throw Sears, Sully, and most of the other top arms. With that said 8 runs is a lot to give up to an awful team (even in 13 innings) and I am surprised Cookie struggled.
Fordham, URI, a travel high school team and our alumni are not exactly Arkansas, Texas, Florida and ECU. With that said, we massacred all of them and played good defense in all of those games. I’m optimistic so long the starting pitching is respectable.
Maybe we can be like the Rays and utilize the pen if we have starting pitching issues.
Impressive rise for Sears, not only from D3 to D1, but to a potential starting pitcher role at a powerhouse D1 program. What makes him effective?Prior to the start of last season, the depth of the UConn pitching staff was a big question mark on the team. Overall, things turned out quite well in that department last season. The one advantage was that UConn had both Peterson and Gallagher returning to the team as weekend starting pitchers, and it would be safe to say that they both probably turned out to be better than any of us fans were expecting.
At this point for the coming spring season, it would be safe to say that there are more questions about the pitching staff than there are about regular lineup. While there are certainly questions at this point on who will fill the starting pitching roles, I do think their appears to be plenty of depth to the UConn pitching staff. At worst, I think the pitching will be okay for next season, even though the starting pitching needs to be sorted out. On the other hand if UConn baseball gets a few breaks, the pitching could end up being quite good as well. Just going to have to stay tuned in to see how things develop as the next spring season approaches.
Given what has gone on in the fall season so far, at this point I would expect Ian Cooke and Andrew Sears to be in the spring weekend starting pitching rotation at the start of the season.
The last day of classes at UConn before the Thanksgiving break is this Friday. I would guess UConn baseball's annual visit to the cemetery at UConn to name the team captains at the gravesite of the Storrs brothers will be coming up in the next few days.