Hook C Heads to North Carolina for Spring Break
It’s spring break! Like many, UConn baseball is getting away from campus, heading to the state of North Carolina for their next eight games. Check out their opponents below:
Campbell: 3/14-3/16
Overall Record: 6-10
Conference Record: 0-0
The Camels have gotten off to a cool start, but do own a midweek win over Duke. After being swept at #15 UC-Santa Barbara to open the season, Campbell lost their next two weekend series against Rider and Georgia Southern. They earned their first weekend series win last weekend, taking two of three from Texas State. The UC-Santa Barbara series is the only time they’ve left North Carolina all season, and won’t leave the state until they head to Charleston, SC on March 28th.
They’re led by SO C Andrew Schudlt, who is batting .333 with four HRs, 19 RBI, and .725 slugging. On the mound, GR Jake Murray has been the most consistent, coming into the series with a 1-1 record in four appearances, pitching 20.2 innings. He was in D1Baseball’s Top Pitchers last weekend, throwing six innings of hitless ball, walking just one against the Bobcats.
This will be the first meeting between the two schools.
Duke: 3/18
Overall Record: 12-6
Conference Record: 2-1
After opening the season with a series loss against Cincinnati, the Blue Devils have bounced back to win their next three, including a sweep of Northwestern, and taking two from Cal in their ACC opener. They had some midweek hiccups, including losses to Liberty and Campbell, as mentioned above, plus a series-opening loss in weekend two against Cornell, but they’ve been consistent since. After losing the conference opener to Cal 14-1, Duke has not allowed more than three runs in a game in their last four matchups.
GR 3B Ben Miller has started the season on a tear, mashing ten HRs and 26 RBI, batting .296, and slugging .732. It is a tad feast or famine with Miller, however, as he also struck out in 17.3% of his plate appearances. On the mound, Ryan Higgins has started all four appearances with a record of 1-0 and a 5.40 ERA. Like the Huskies, the Blue Devils’ starters have been tagged for a lot of runs thus far. Out of the bullpen, GR Reid Easterly has thrown 17.2 innings over nine appearances, winning two games and has an ERA of 2.04. Gabriel Nard has a similar statline, with an ERA of 2.70 over 16.2 innings of work.
Duke will head to Palo Alto to take on Stanford this weekend. UConn is 3-1 all-time against Duke, last beating the Blue Devils in the Norman regional last year, a 4-1 victory.
#6 North Carolina: 3/19
Overall Record: 15-2
Conference Record: 1-2
Another opportunity for a ranked win for the Huskies, UNC had entered their ACC opening series against Stanford undefeated, but found themselves losing two of three at home to the Cardinal. UNC opened with a home sweep over Texas Tech, followed by weekend sweeps of East Carolina and Stony Brook.
UNC is led by GR 1B Hunter Stokely, who is hitting .419 with five HR and 21 RBI, with a slugging percentage of .710. SO C Luke Stevenson leads the team with HR with seven, and is second on the team in batting average and RBI, .333, and 20, respectively. On the bump, UNC has gotten solid performances from their starters, Jake Knapp, Aidan Haugh, and Jason DeCaro. Knapp is 2-0, and leads the team with an ERA of 2.50 in 18 innings thrown. Haugh is second in ERA at 2.79 over 19.2 innings pitched, and suffered his first loss against the Cardinal. Same with DeCaro, who is third on the team with an ERA of 3.22, but leads the team in innings pitched, with 22.1.
North Carolina leaves the state for the first time this season this weekend, as they head to Louisville. UConn is 7-23 all-time against UNC, losing the last meeting in February 2002.
UNC-Greensboro: 3/21-3/23
Overall Record: 7-9
Conference Record: 0-0
The Spartans have played another Big East squad this year, opening the season at home against Creighton, where they took the first two games of the series, before Creighton exploded in the final game in a 17-1 victory. After earning a midweek win over ranked Wake Forest, UNCG lost their next two series against Virginia Tech and Pitt, then lost two of three this past weekend against Radford.
They’ve lacked some power so far, with no player hitting more than two HR, and no player with a slugging percentage over .500. Three players are hitting over .300, and over half the team is hitting below .250, which hopefully can be an antidote to starter Ian Cooke, who has struggled immensely to start the year. The Huskies have gotten solid performances over the past two weekends, and they’ll look to keep the momentum going. On the hill, UNCG has also gotten good performances from their starters, with their main three all having an ERA below 4.00.
UConn is 0-6 all-time agains the Spartans, with the most recent series in 2008. UNCG takes on North Carolina A&T this weekend.