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UConn baseball hosted Northeastern on March 27 and stranded the tying run on third, falling 7-6 in the game and to 9-15 on the season. The Huskies’ season seemed to be as a crossroads, as after returning to regional play against the top of the northeast, they had lost two of three to Rutgers and defeated in the midweek by both the Huskies on Huntington Ave. and Boston College.
However, Jim Penders’ team had a weekend off before a rare Monday game against CCSU. UConn snagged a 14-6 victory and since then, have ascended from potentially having a lost season to being in the at-large picture for the NCAA Tournament.
The sample size post-off weekend isn’t quite the same size as that before it, at 16 and 24 games, respectively, but this is a big enough picture to show that something clicked. The Huskies are an insane 13-3 in that stretch and have ascended from No. 81 in the RPI on April 11 to No. 38 as of the start of play on April 25.
Sometimes, Northeast teams need time to gel after playing mostly indoors and undergoing a brutal travel schedule over the first five weeks of the season. Previous UConn teams have gotten hot over the final six to eight weeks of the season and it seems as though the 2024 Huskies are in that category.
The competition has taken a step down, as UConn’s last 16 opponents have come with an average RPI of 111.88, including all but one of its Quad 4 games, compared with 58.29 prior to the break, but this stretch has still included some good teams. Xavier qualifies as a Quad 1 series win, while the Huskies also beat Kansas State in the midweek and swept Georgetown away from home.
The hitting has gotten better, as UConn is up from 4.4 runs per game over its first 24 games to 8.6 over the past 16 contests. Some of that damage was done against Maine (20 runs), CCSU (14 runs) and Hofstra (14 runs), but it still included 29 runs over a weekend against one of the better pitching staffs in the country in St. John’s.
Meanwhile, Ian Cooke has been able to deliver some solid performances, some in relief, while more traditional bullpen pieces like Braden Quinn and Brady Afthim have continued to help hold leads.
The Huskies are not yet a national contender and have a likely ceiling of a Regional final, depending on its placement in the NCAA Tournament, but this team looks much better than it did in March, putting itself squarely in position to secure yet another bid to play June baseball. It didn’t always look like that was a possibility over the season’s first six weeks.
RPI Update
UConn is up into the RPI top 40, slotted at No. 38, which is a long way from just two weeks ago, when the Huskies were at No. 81. With just four regular season weekends to go, RPI watching nationwide is starting to come into play. There aren’t many non-power teams around UConn, which means it might slip in the rankings with a Quad 4 series at home, even with a sweep. Xaiver is the next-closest team from outside the ACC, Big 12 and SEC above the Huskies, at No. 32, while the closest below them is No. 41 Creighton.
However, once UConn gets though this weekend, there are few RPI concerns, but it will still want to rack up the wins. Butler and Seton Hall are the only sub-100 opponents remaining on the schedule and both come on the road, which puts them solidly at Quad 3. Of the 14 games remaining on the Huskies’ schedule, one is Quad 1, three are Quad 2, seven are Quad 3 and three are Quad 4.
According to Boyd’s World’s RPI Needs Report, which measures how high a team can get in a vacuum, the Huskies cannot reach the top 16, but require a 13-1 finish to climb the last few spots into the top 32.
Baseball America
This is the second week straight that Baseball America has projected UConn as the Big East’s automatic bid. The site has the Huskies as the 3-seed in No. 14 Duke’s Durham Regional, along with 2-seed and former Big East foe West Virginia and VCU, the Atlantic 10’s champion.
Xavier is also a 3-seed, slotted in the Terre Haute Regional, which belongs to No. 13 Indiana State, as the only other Big East team in the discussion. Creighton was in the field last week but is completely off the bubble after a series loss to Villanova. Georgetown was in the next four out and also disappeared.
UC Santa Barbara (3-seed) is the only weekend opponent slated to make the NCAA Tournament. Midweek opponents in the field include Bryant (4-seed), No. 13 Indiana State, Kansas State (3-seed), Northeastern (3-seed) and UC Irvine (2-seed).
D1Baseball
D1Baseball.com has made the switch, putting the Huskies into the field. UConn is the 3-seed in the Corvallis Regional, hosted by No. 12 Oregon State. They’re joined by 2-seed Texas Tech and 4-seed Fresno State.
There are no other Big East teams in the field, but Creighton and Xavier are each in the first four out. Georgetown was formerly the Big East’s representative, but has fallen out in favor of the Huskies.
California (3-seed) and UC Santa Barbara (2-seed) played UConn in a weekend series and will join the Huskies in a Regional, while there are several midweek opponents in Bryant (4-seed), No. 11 Indiana State, Kansas State (2-seed), Northeastern (3-seed) and UC Irvine (2-seed).
The Week Ahead
Friday: Villanova; 6:05 p.m.; FloSports
Saturday: Villanova; 2:05 p.m.; FloSports
Sunday: Villanova; 1:05 p.m.; FloSports
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