HookC Advances to Norman Regional Final, 4-1 vs. No. 9 Oklahoma

NORMAN, Okla. - The UConn baseball team (34-23) defeated No. 9 Oklahoma (38-20), 4-1, on Saturday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park to advance to Sunday's Regional Final. 

UConn starting pitcher Stephen Quigley was exceptional against the top offense in the Big 12 with 8.0 innings of one-run ball that featured just one walk and a pair of strikeouts.

The Huskies offense went up against Sooners ace Braden Davis and was able to mount a two-out rally in the third. After two quick outs, Paul Tammaro and Luke Broadhurst worked back-to-back walks to pass the baton to senior Korey Morton.

Morton jumped on the first pitch, lining a base hit to left to plate Tammaro and give the Huskies a 1-0 lead.

The scored remained the same until the seventh. After back-to-back one out singles for Caleb Shpur and Tammaro, the Sooners turned to Dylan Crooks in their bullpen.

Luke Broadhurst greeted Crooks with his 14th home run of the year, a three-run shot, that pushed the UConn lead to 4-0.

Kendall Pettis answered for the Sooners in the top of the eighth with a solo shot to lead off the inning but Quigley responded by retiring the next three Sooners.

In the ninth, Quigley came back out to try and finish it off but his first walk of the night ended his night. 

UConn closer Brady Afthim came out of the pen and walked the first batter he faced to bring the tying run to the plate. However, the Windham, Maine native regrouped and retired the next three batters to secure his eighth save of the year.

Next up, the Huskies will await the winner of the Oklahoma/Duke game in the Regional Final at 9:06 p.m. ET / 8:06 p.m. CT.

Game Notes

• UConn moved to 2-0 in the Norman Regional. The second time that UConn has started 2-0 in a regional in the modern era (since 1999).
• The Huskies advance to the Regional Final for the fifth time in 10 NCAA appearances under head coach Jim Penders.
• Luke Broadhurst hit his 28th career home run on Saturday night to tie Joe DeRoche Duffin and Ben Huber for eighth all-time in program history.
• UConn earned its first top-10 victory on the season and first since defeataing No. 2 Stanford in the 2022 Super Regionals.