HookC Wins Norman Regional, Advances to Third Super Regional in Program History
NORMAN, Okla. - The UConn baseball team (35-24) beat No. 9 Oklahoma (40-21), 7-1, to capture the Norman Regional title and punch its ticket to the program's third Super Regional in program history and second Super in the last three seasons.
The Huskies defeated the Sooners with timely hitting, superb pitching and elite defense on Monday night at L. Dale Mitchell Park.
UConn starting pitcher Gabe Van Emon fired a career-high 7.1 shutout innings with the help of some great defensive plays. Paul Tammaro, Bryan Padilla, Caleb Shpur and Korey Morton all made highlight reel plays in the victory as the Huskies committed just one error in the entire Norman Regional.
Norman Regional All-Tournament team performer Stephen Quigley closed out the victory by recording the final five outs to send the Huskies to the Tallahassee Super Regional.
Norman Regional Most Outstanding Player Korey Morton lifted the UConn offense in the fourth inning with a two-run homer, his 27th career bomb, to break a stalemate and make it 2-0 Huskies.
After a critical error allowed Tyler Minick to reach with two outs, Maddix Dalena notched his first hit of the regional, a two-run homer, to extend the lead to 4-0 in the fourth.
Luke Broadhurst and Morton added on in the fifth with back-to-back RBI singles to increase the lead to 6-0.
T.C. Simmons capped the scoring for the Huskies with a two-out RBI single in the eighth inning to provide a little more insurance and make it 7-0 Huskies.
UConn advances to the Super Regional round, a best two-out-of-three series, to try and advance to the College World Series. The Huskies will face the No. 8 Florida State Seminoles.
Times and dates of the Super will be released at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday, June 4.