Game Notes | MIXLR

PLYMOUTH MEETING, PA. - The UConn baseball team (27-18, 11-4 BIG EAST) plays its final BIG EAST road series of the season with a three-game set at Villanova (20-21, 4-8 BIG EAST) with the series opening on Friday at 3 p.m. Saturday is slated for 2 p.m. while the series finale is Sunday at 1 p.m. All three games will be on FloSports and can be heard on MIXLR.

Huskies Win Streak Ends at 13... The Huskies had their season long win streak of 13 games ended on April 29 against Rutgers. The Huskies win streak help propel UConn to a 16-3 mark in the month of April and put them back in the NCAA Tournament at-large picture and in the race for the BIG EAST regular season title.

Striking Out the Competition... The UConn pitching staff ranks 37th in the country with 9.6 strikeouts per nine this season.11 UConn pitchers have more strikeouts than innings pitched this season. Ian Cooke leads the Huskies with 61 strikeouts, Pudvar has 52 and Afthim has 41.

Green Light.. The Huskies rank 11th in the country with 112 stolen bases this season. Caleb Shpur leads the way with 32 bags, ranking eighth nationally. Sam Biller has 18 SB, Rispoli with 15, Minick with 13, Daniels with 10 and Dougherty with 9. The 112 stolen bases with 10 games to play already ranks 5th most in program history.The Huskies are averaging 2.50 stolen bases per game.

The King of Queens... The Huskies swept St. John's in a three-game series for the first time in program history on the final weekend of April UConn outscored the Johnnies 44-17 in the series. The sweep extended the Huskies win streak at the time to a nation-best 13 games.

RBI-LLER.. Left fielder Sam Biller has been an RBI machine in the team's last seven games with 16 runs batted in over that stretch. The Los Angeles native has collected six multi-hit games in the last seven games with 13 total hits, with three doubles, three home runs and 12 runs scored. His .269 AVG is the highest it has been since the fourth game of the season (Feb. 22).

Life in the Connor Lane... Freshman catcher Connor Lane  has gotten into the swing of things in his last 10 starts dating back to April 9th. The Old Saybrook, CT native has collected 19 hits including seven doubles and four home runs. He has driven in 19 over that span including a career-high five RBI at Boston College. 

Doublin' Dougherty.. Before getting injured in the first inning against Rutgers on Tuesday, Aidan Dougherty had seven doubles in the last four games including four in game two of the series against St. John's. The Snoqualmie, Wash. native also hit his first home run as a Husky in the series finale against St. John's. The right fielder was in a torrid stretch with 12 hits, seven runs scored and 11 runs batted in his last five games.

Rispoli The Table Setter... Rob Rispoli has been a spark at the top of the UConn order this season. The shortstop has been named to the Brooks Wallace Watch List, an award given to the best SS in college baseball. The redshirt freshman is hitting .329 with a .473 on-base percentage. The UConn SS lead the team with 30 walks and 14 hit by pitches. He has also stolen 15 bases this year. The Staten Island, N.Y. native just had his season-long 12 game hit streak come to an end against URI.

Breakout Daniels... Ryan Daniles has had a breakout junior senior after dealing with injuries his first two seasons in Storrs. He is currently in a hot stretch with six home runs in the last eight games. He registered his first career multi-homer game against Army with a two-run HR and grand slam to total a career-high six RBI. The Meriden, CT native is hitting .352 with 48 runs scored (leads team), 12 doubles (leads team), two triples, 10 home runs and 46 runs batted in. The infield/outfielder has a .475 OBP with 29 walks.

In the series finale at FAU, Daniels hit the go-ahead two-run home run in the 10th inning to lift UConn to its first win of the year. The home run was part of the first career four-hit game for the infielder/outfielder. Daniels followed up that performance with a game-tying home run against No. 14 Vanderbilt to eventually earn the Huskies a ranked win. 

West's World... In his first career start against Hofstra, LHP Charlie West earned his first career victory. The Long Island native pitched a career-high 5.0 innings and posted a career-best eight strikeouts in the victory against Hofstra. 

West followed in up with a Sunday start against Georgetown and the South Setauket, N.Y. native bested his Wednesday performance with a career-high 6.0 innings and 10 strikeouts. West is just the second Husky to record a double-digit strikeout performance this season (Pudvar)

What Sophomore Slump?... Sophomore Tyler Minick has already taken a big jump from his freshman to sophomore year. The Reading, Pa. native is hitting .372 batting average, 16 home runs and 54 runs batted in. The corner INF has a career-high with 21 walks and is slugging at a .744 clip. Minick recorded a multi-homer game in the series opener against Seton Hall. The sophomore already has four career grand slams with two of them this season (FAU & Creighton).Minick leads the BIG EAST with his 16 homers and is 2nd with 54 runs batted in.

Home Runs
Mike Olt, 2010 ..................... 23
Brian Packin, 1999................ 19
George Springer, 2010 .......... 18
Jason Grabowski, 1996.......... 18
Joe DeRoche-Duffin, 2016 ..... 17
Ben Huber, 2023 .................. 17
Tyler Minick, 2025 .................16

200 Hit Club... Long time Husky Bryan Padilla registered his 200th career hit with a double in the 8th inning against Creighton in the series opener. Padilla becomes the 24th Husky in programa history to reach the 200-hit mark. The Brooklyn, N.Y. native has played in 216 games with the Huskies and racked up 216 career hits including 25 home runs. The infielder has scored 146 runs, driven in 154 runs and walked 113 times.
Games Played
Chris Winkel, 2017-21    243
Billy Ferriter, 2010-2013    242

Mike Nemeth, 2008-11    241
Bobby Melley, 2013-16    241
Bryan Daniello, 2013-16    224
John Topaa, 2016-19    222
Pat Mahoney, 2005-08    217
Bryan Padilla, 2022-25    216

Hits
Mike Nemeth, 2008-11    331
LJ Mazzilli 2010-13    295
Bobby Melley, 2013-16.    290
Billy Ferriter 2010-13    288
George Springer, 2009-11    242
Pierre LePage, 2008-10    237
John Toppa, 2016-19    237
Dennis Donovan, 2004-07    236
Pat Mahoney, 2005-08    233
Clarke Caudill, 1997-00    232
Todd Rosenthal, 1989-92    227
Anthony Prato, 2017-19    227
Chris Winkel, 2017-21    222
Vinny Siena, 2013-15    221
Bryan Padilla, 2022-25    215

Walks
Sean Irey, 1991-94    143
Jack Sundberg, 2013-16    134
Mike Nemeth, 2008-11    134
Bobby Melley, 2013-16    132
George Springer, 2009-11    128
Bryan Padlla, 2022-2025    113

Brad The Stopper... UConn closer Brady Afthim has been one of the top closers in the country. The RHP is ranked No. 15 by D1Baseball.com on the top 100 closers list. He has been named to the NCBWA Stopper of the Year Watch List. 

Afthim has appeared in 16 games for UConn this year and is 1-1 with eight saves and leads the team with a 1.35 ERA. In 26.2 innings, the Windham, Maine native has allowed four earned run and struck out 41 batters while holding opponents to a .218 average against. The tri-captain has now appeared in 86 games, ranking 4th all-time in program history. The 16 career saves he has registered is 9th all-time.

Saves
Justin Willis, 2021-23    28
Mike James, 2001-04    22
Kevin Vance, 2009-11    21
Patrick Ruotolo, 2014-16    20
David Erickson, 2005-09    20
Jacob Wallace, 2017-19    19
Matt Karl, 2005-08    18
P.J. Poulin, 2016-18    16
Brady Afthim, 2022-2025    14

Appearances
Dan Feehan, 2010-13.    96
David Erickson, 2005-09    87
CJ Dandeneau, 2016-19    87
Brady Afthim, 2022-2025    86

Cooke Turning It Around... Ian Cooke has struggled to start his 2025 campaign but the 2024 BIG EAST Pitcher of the Year has looked strong in seven relief appearance. The New Milford, Conn. native has pitched 25.2 innings, allowed three earned runs, walked five and struck out 45 batters. Cooke closed out the middle game of the series at Xavier with 3.0 shutout innings to earn his first save of the year. In BIG EAST play, Cooke has recorded three saves and one win with all four of those outings lasting 3.0 innings or more. The senior has logged 206.1 career innings and recorded 16 wins on the mound for the Huskies. He currently has 260 strikeouts, ranking fourth in program history. 

Strikeouts
Mason Feole, 2017-19    278
Tim Cate, 2016-18    270
Anthony Kay, 2014-16    263
Ian Cooke, 2022-2025    260