UConn Baseball 2020 | The Boneyard

UConn Baseball 2020

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>>The Huskies are slated to open their new stadium against a familiar Big East foe, Seton Hall, on Sunday, March 29 at 1 p.m. UConn plays two additional home games at Dunkin' Donuts Park, home of the Hartford Yard Goats.

UConn is scheduled to play its first-ever night game on campus on Wednesday, April 1 vs. Stony Brook at 6 p.m. Tickets and more information on home games will be provided at a later date.

The Huskies will face another challenging schedule in 2020, playing 25 games against 10 programs that finished 2019 in the Top-100 of the RPI. Additionally, the Huskies face eight teams that reached the 2019 NCAA Tournament.

"I'm not sure anyone in America could have a more challenging early season schedule than we have in 2020, said head coach Jim Penders. "Before we see March, we'll have played the national champion and the national runner-up five times total. Of course, we want to play a tough schedule to prepare us for the rigors of The American. The competition and travel will test us, but I'm most looking forward to the part of the schedule that will be played in our brand-new, state-of-the-art home. Elliot Ballpark's opening will be a highlight for sure."<<
 

Wordbomar

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Love this schedule. Vandy, Michigan, Seton Hall, along with the normal conference foes. Would like to in the future see most of our Friday Night games played a DDP. I love the idea of Hartford on Friday with the two weekend games at Elliot in conference play.
 

zls44

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Love this schedule. Vandy, Michigan, Seton Hall, along with the normal conference foes. Would like to in the future see most of our Friday Night games played a DDP. I love the idea of Hartford on Friday with the two weekend games at Elliot in conference play.

Totally disagree. Don't build a $10m or whatever stadium to not play games there. Maybe use DDP once, use it for the Big East Tournament, but play college sports on college campuses. Especially when you're bleeding the students to support it.

Why is this fanbase so weird about this stuff? Drive to Storrs. Its not that bad. It really isn't.
 
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Totally disagree. Don't build a $10m or whatever stadium to not play games there. Maybe use DDP once, use it for the Big East Tournament, but play college sports on college campuses. Especially when you're bleeding the students to support it.

Why is this fanbase so weird about this stuff? Drive to Storrs. Its not that bad. It really isn't.

Playing Friday nights at DDP would reallly help market the Huskies and a build a fan base. The corner of I-91 and I-84 is the most convenient location in the state. It would lift Huskies baseball profile to many folks who never have seen a game or had a rooting interest.
 
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Am i reading the schedule wrong or do they play TWO games at DDP? If so, is 2 really that much worse than 1?
 
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Earliest schedule release that I can recall since I started following UConn baseball. In past years, a tentative schedule draft has made the rounds at the alumni game, but that was always subject to the odd revision before it would actually get announced on the UConn Athletics website.
 

zls44

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I'm fine with them playing 1 or 2 at DDP, just against the idea of doing every Friday there going forward.

Also, the idea of it helping market the team more...its UConn. Pretty sure people know about it.
 
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Totally disagree. Don't build a $10m or whatever stadium to not play games there. Maybe use DDP once, use it for the Big East Tournament, but play college sports on college campuses. Especially when you're bleeding the students to support it.

Why is this fanbase so weird about this stuff? Drive to Storrs. Its not that bad. It really isn't.

Let’s not RE-litigate Rentschler

There’s a GREATER goal in this State. You need to proselytize and build. There’s a ennui. You know you can light the fire with MSG. WBB at Mohegan & Bridgeport. Baseball in Hartford a few games a year makes sense; it’s fun & reaches those beyond the student & Alumni. Stakeholders. Taxpayers.

You can’t do this enough. Baseball & Hockey & MBB & WBB ... bleed into Brand & better football. Of course ... in CT, you’ve got to win
 
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Let’s not RE-litigate Rentschler

There’s a GREATER goal in this State. You need to proselytize and build. There’s a ennui. You know you can light the fire with MSG. WBB at Mohegan & Bridgeport. Baseball in Hartford a few games a year makes sense; it’s fun & reaches those beyond the student & Alumni. Stakeholders. Taxpayers.

You can’t do this enough. Baseball & Hockey & MBB & WBB ... bleed into Brand & better football. Of course ... in CT, you’ve got to win

I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong.

Students and alumni are what matters most.

UConn is not Connecticut’s professional sports team. There’s already professional baseball in Hartford, and three MLB teams within easy driving distance.

This is college sports and college sports belong on college campuses, as nearly every other school has figured out.

Note: I’m fine with playing a couple games at DDP, but that’s it.
 
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I’m sorry, but you’re just wrong.

Students and alumni are what matters most.

UConn is not Connecticut’s professional sports team. There’s already professional baseball in Hartford, and three MLB teams within easy driving distance.

This is college sports and college sports belong on college campuses, as nearly every other school has figured out.

Note: I’m fine with playing a couple games at DDP, but that’s it.

ewwww ... sorry for the different opinion

In case we need to remind ourselves .... these college sports need Revenue. BIGGER BETTER. At a decent level, Football needs to be promoted and gain bigger attendance + more Brand revenue. UCONN Football - since I was at school - got a slice of students. UCONN Baseball helps; UCONN Hockey helps etc

I actually spent some time in RURAL Storrs/Mansfield this summer. Weeks at a time. WTF. There's still vast lack of population. Infrastructure kinda like 1975. And there's been a significant amount of construction and expansion of the UCONN campus.

1. You cannot seed a 10,000 seat stadium in most any sport on that road system. 2. You are ... the State U. So the mission is far broader than ... U of Hartford or Quinnipiac. 3. Given the AD success in various components, the broader success feeds the Brand and feeds greater opportunity for all. 4. YES = you are entertainment for the entire State ... and I'd aim for regional markets too.

Let's not look in the mirror. The penny ante thinking of not having a vibrant full CollegeTown is part of the reason why we whine about missing the P5
 
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ewwww ... sorry for the different opinion

In case we need to remind ourselves .... these college sports need Revenue. BIGGER BETTER. At a decent level, Football needs to be promoted and gain bigger attendance + more Brand revenue. UCONN Football - since I was at school - got a slice of students. UCONN Baseball helps; UCONN Hockey helps etc

I actually spent some time in RURAL Storrs/Mansfield this summer. Weeks at a time. . There's still vast lack of population. Infrastructure kinda like 1975. And there's been a significant amount of construction and expansion of the UCONN campus.

1. You cannot seed a 10,000 seat stadium in most any sport on that road system. 2. You are ... the State U. So the mission is far broader than ... U of Hartford or Quinnipiac. 3. Given the AD success in various components, the broader success feeds the Brand and feeds greater opportunity for all. 4. YES = you are entertainment for the entire State ... and I'd aim for regional markets too.

Let's not look in the mirror. The penny ante thinking of not having a vibrant full CollegeTown is part of the reason why we whine about missing the P5

It’s fine to have a different opinion, and you are 100% right about the local yokels fight against letting Storrs become a real college town being unbelievably short sided and stupid, but I just couldn’t disagree stronger with your conclusions. Have a nice Tuesday!
 
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>>For the purpose of this exercise, we don’t care what happened in the 1970s or 80s, or even the 90s — that’s ancient history to a potential recruit in 2019. Tradition is nice, but it’s more important to establish a tradition of consistent winning in the last decade, and especially in the last five years. Our ultimate goal here is to identify the programs in the best shape right now, with an eye toward the next five to 10 years. <<

36. Connecticut (2017 Rank: 57). The Huskies just keep moving up the rankings, and that’s a testament to head coach Jim Penders and his coaching staff. UConn is in the process of building a brand new, beautiful facility. But fans across the country would be astonished if they saw what the Huskies were playing in before while also putting together consistent winning seasons and postseason appearances. UConn has reached the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons, going 38-25 back in 2016 before narrowly missing the tourney in 2017 with a solid 33-25 mark. Penders’ program has made back-to-back tourney appearances the last two seasons, going 37-22 two seasons ago before once again impressing with a 39-25 mark this past season. Like most Northern schools, there’s no doubt the Huskies have some obstacles, but the nation now views them as a consistent winner with a solid national brand. — Kendall Rogers<<
 
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hardcorehusky

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To a potential recruit- I would think guys in MLB would be a great recruiting tool. Also, guys that are in the minors over the last few years and their progress as well. When you add those factors in, I would think UConn is a Top 25 program!!
 
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>>For the purpose of this exercise, we don’t care what happened in the 1970s or 80s, or even the 90s — that’s ancient history to a potential recruit in 2019. Tradition is nice, but it’s more important to establish a tradition of consistent winning in the last decade, and especially in the last five years. Our ultimate goal here is to identify the programs in the best shape right now, with an eye toward the next five to 10 years. <<

36. Connecticut (2017 Rank: 57). The Huskies just keep moving up the rankings, and that’s a testament to head coach Jim Penders and his coaching staff. UConn is in the process of building a brand new, beautiful facility. But fans across the country would be astonished if they saw what the Huskies were playing in before while also putting together consistent winning seasons and postseason appearances. UConn has reached the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons, going 38-25 back in 2016 before narrowly missing the tourney in 2017 with a solid 33-25 mark. Penders’ program has made back-to-back tourney appearances the last two seasons, going 37-22 two seasons ago before once again impressing with a 39-25 mark this past season. Like most Northern schools, there’s no doubt the Huskies have some obstacles, but the nation now views them as a consistent winner with a solid national brand. — Kendall Rogers<<


Not mentioned here is that the 2015 program ranking by D1baseball.com for UConn was No. 60. A 21 point rise in the rankings in a two year period is quite a big jump. Together with the new baseball facility, if UConn continues to make the NCAA tournament more often than not, there is definitely room for this ranking to continue to rise in the coming years. And that is pretty amazing considering where this northeast program was in terms of a total lack of a national recognition before Penders became head coach.
 
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>>For the purpose of this exercise, we don’t care what happened in the 1970s or 80s, or even the 90s — that’s ancient history to a potential recruit in 2019. Tradition is nice, but it’s more important to establish a tradition of consistent winning in the last decade, and especially in the last five years. Our ultimate goal here is to identify the programs in the best shape right now, with an eye toward the next five to 10 years. <<

36. Connecticut (2017 Rank: 57). The Huskies just keep moving up the rankings, and that’s a testament to head coach Jim Penders and his coaching staff. UConn is in the process of building a brand new, beautiful facility. But fans across the country would be astonished if they saw what the Huskies were playing in before while also putting together consistent winning seasons and postseason appearances. UConn has reached the NCAA tournament in three of the last four seasons, going 38-25 back in 2016 before narrowly missing the tourney in 2017 with a solid 33-25 mark. Penders’ program has made back-to-back tourney appearances the last two seasons, going 37-22 two seasons ago before once again impressing with a 39-25 mark this past season. Like most Northern schools, there’s no doubt the Huskies have some obstacles, but the nation now views them as a consistent winner with a solid national brand. — Kendall Rogers<<


East Carolina is the top rated AAC program in these 2019 rankings at No. 26. UConn second in the AAC at 36.

 
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>Connecticut
Recruiting coordinator: Joshua MacDonald
Top recruit: Reggie Crawford, 1B/LHP (No. 411)

The Huskies' newcomers are brimming with potential, starting with Crawford, who has enormous upside and continuing through their freshmen and junior college transfers. UConn also brings in three four-year transfers, and while it waits to find out if two-way players Ben Casparius (North Carolina) and Erik Stock (Old Dominion) will be immediately eligible, righthander Justin Willis (Vanderbilt) is set to go this spring. He’ll be a boost to the bullpen thanks to his fastball-slider combination.

Crawford has premium two-way ability and last year was among the better prospects in the Northeast. He’s more advanced as a hitter, and the 6-foot-4, 206-pound lefthander has a good approach and impressive power potential. He’s raw on the mound but has plenty of arm strength—his fastball gets into the low 90s—and he has upside that may be unlocked during college. Lefthander Max Nielsen and righthander Nick Marrero should be able to help the pitching staff right away, while righthanders Josh Cohen and Sam Favieri offer upside.

The Huskies also bring in some important junior college transfers. Zach Bushling can play nearly anywhere on the field, and his speed and mentality will get him in the lineup every day. Righthander Nick Krauth has seen his velocity tick up to around 90 mph this fall, helping his secondary stuff and pitchability play up. He’ll have no problem finding a role on the staff somewhere.<
 

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