STORRS, Conn. - The UConn baseball team (10-15) opens BIG EAST Conference play with a three-game series against the Xavier Musketeers (14-14) beginning on Friday, April 5 at 3:05 p.m. Saturday's game is slated for 2:05 p.m. and Sunday's series finale will begin at 11:05 a.m. All three games will be video streamed on FloSports/BIG EAST Digital Network (Subscription) and Saturday's game will be on Fox Sports Radio 97.9 & AM 1300.

This weekend's promotional schedule at Elliot Ballpark will feature Flashback Friday, Bleed Blue Day with a t-shirt giveaway on Saturday and Sunday Funday with inflatable game, post-game autographs and post-game run the bases. 

Both teams have played Top-25 schedules nationally with Xavier at No. 9 and UConn at No. 25 entering the weekend. 

Sophomore Isaac Wachsmann leads the team with a .386 batting average in 17 games this season while clubbing five home runs. All-BIG EAST first baseman Matt McCormick leads the BIG EAST with 10 home runs. 

Xavier Comes To Town... Since UConn has rejoined the BIG EAST Conference in 2021. A rivalry has blossomed between the Huskies and Musketeers. Over that stretch, the two teams have played in all three BIG EAST Championship games in BIG EAST Tournament, with the Huskies winning in 2021 and 2022 and the Musketeers taking the crown in 2023. 

Over the three seasons, UConn is 10-7 against Xavier with seven of those games being played at Prasco Park. UConn has won the last two series against the Musketeers with a series split coming back during the four-game series weekend in 2021. 

Studley Surge... BIG EAST Preseason Player of the Year Jake Studley had hit a recent funk at the plate that pushed his batting average down to .225 on the season. But the UConn RF has seemed to turn a corner by going 4-9 at the plate with six runs scored and a pair of doubles to push his average back to .281. Last time out against CCSU, Studley recorded his first career four-hit game. 

Turning A Corner... The UConn offense is looking to get jumpstarted after a slow start to the first half of the season. The offense was hitting .230 as a team entering this past Tuesday's matchup against CCSU. The UConn offense exploded for 14 runs on a season-high 16 hits and had a season-high nine hits with runners in scoring position. The UConn offense has been missing the crooked number innings and high scoring affairs that have been a part of the offense the past few seasons. The Huskies are 8-3 when they score five runs or more this season. 

In the last seven games, Matt Garbowski (.381), Paul Tammaro (.333), Jake Studley (.333), Korey Morton (.321) and Bryan Padilla (.310) are all hitting their stride and looking more like the offense the Huskies were expecting to get this season.

Getting Off To Better Starts... UConn is looking to turn the page on getting off to better starts. The Huskies have only won one game (1-6) to open up their weekends this season with the only win coming way back on Opening Weekend against Louisville. Overall, the Huskies are 2-4 on Fridays. The Huskies are also 3-10 when their opponent scores first this season while the Huskes are 9-1 when they are leading after the sixth inning this season.