UConn Huskies baseball
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| UConn Huskies | |
|---|---|
 2024 UConn Huskies baseball team | |
 | |
| Founded | 1896 |
| University | University of Connecticut |
| Head coach | Jim Penders (21st season) |
| Conference | Big East |
| Location | Storrs, Connecticut |
| Home stadium | Elliot Ballpark (Capacity: 1,500) Dunkin' Park (Capacity: 6,121) |
| Nickname | Huskies |
| Colors | National flag blue and white[1] |
| College World Series appearances | |
| 1957, 1959, 1965, 1972, 1979 | |
| NCAA regional champions | |
| 1979, 2011, 2022, 2024 | |
| NCAA Tournament appearances | |
| 1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 1968, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 | |
| Conference tournament champions | |
| Big East: 1990, 1994, 2013, 2021, 2022 American: 2016 | |
| Regular season conference champions | |
| Big East: 2011, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024 Yankee: 1959, 1965, 1972 | |
The UConn Huskies baseball team represents the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, Connecticut, in college baseball. The program is classified as NCAA Division I, and the team competes in the Big East Conference. The team is coached by Jim Penders.
As of 2024, UConn has appeared in five College World Series and 25 NCAA tournaments.
History
[edit]The Huskies were a regional power under coaches J. Orlean Christian and Larry Panciera, making 12 appearances in the NCAA tournament and five appearances in the College World Series from 1957 to 1979. The Huskies made their first Super Regional appearance in 2011, defeating traditional power Clemson before falling to eventual national champion South Carolina. Connecticut has claimed five Big East Conference baseball tournament championships (1990, 1994, 2013, 2021 and 2022), five Big East Regular season championships (2011, 2021, 2022, 2023 and 2024) and one divisional championship in the first year of Big East competition in 1985. During their seven-year tenure in the American Athletic Conference, the Huskies had three NCAA tournament appearances and won the 2016 American Athletic Conference baseball tournament.
Facilities
[edit]The Huskies play at the 1,500-seat Elliot Ballpark, located at the southwest edge of the campus athletic complex, which opened for the 2021 season. It is named after the primary donors to the ballpark project, the Elliot family, headed by Doug Elliot, a former UConn baseball player who became an executive with The Hartford.[2] Elliot Ballpark replaced J. O. Christian Field, a 2,000-seat stadium formally located across the street from the new ballpark.[3][4] The team plays select home games at minor league venues in Connecticut, most frequently Dunkin' Donuts Park in Hartford, Connecticut, Senator Thomas J. Dodd Memorial Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut, and New Britain Stadium in New Britain, Connecticut, all of which seat over 6,000 spectators.
Year by year results
[edit]Head coaches
[edit]The following is a list of all UConn coaches and their known records, through the end of the 2023 season.[5]
Coach | Tenure | Wins | Losses | Ties | Pct. |
| No coach | 1896–1898 | 6 | 9 | 0 | .400 |
| T. D. Knowles | 1899–1901 | 11 | 9 | 1 | .555 |
| Edwin O. Smith | 1902–1905 | 13 | 9 | 1 | .591 |
| George E. Lamson | 1906–1908 | 12 | 13 | 1 | .480 |
| John Sullivan | 1909–1910 | 9 | 7 | 0 | .563 |
| James Nicholas | 1911 | 0 | 9 | 0 | .000 |
| No coach | 1912 | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 |
| Robert Edger | 1913 | 4 | 6 | 0 | .400 |
| Charles A. Reed | 1914 | 0 | 4 | 0 | .000 |
| J. J. Donovan | 1915 | 1 | 7 | 0 | .125 |
| D. E. Chase | 1916 | 1 | 8 | 0 | .111 |
| John J. Donahue | 1917 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .500 |
| Roy J. Guyer | 1919 | 6 | 6 | 0 | .500 |
| William Mellor | 1920 | 3 | 8 | 0 | .273 |
| Ross Swartz | 1921 | 2 | 11 | 1 | .154 |
| J. Wilder Tasker | 1922–1923 | 12 | 18 | 0 | .400 |
| Sumner Dole | 1924–1935 | 64 | 90 | 2 | .416 |
| J. Orlean Christian | 1936–1961 | 254 | 170 | 7 | .599 |
| Larry Panciera | 1962–1979 | 297 | 160 | 5 | .650 |
| Andy Baylock | 1980–2003 | 556 | 492 | 8 | .530 |
| Jim Penders | 2004–present | 700 | 449 | 5 | .609 |
Huskies in the pros
[edit]Connecticut has produced dozens of professional players, coaches, and umpires, most notably Jeff Fulchino (Florida Marlins, Kansas City Royals, Houston Astros, San Diego Padres), Jesse Carlson (Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros, Texas Rangers, Toronto Blue Jays, Boston Red Sox), Bob Schaefer (numerous coaching positions with 11 teams, currently Washington Nationals), Charles Nagy (Cleveland Indians, San Diego Padres; coach Arizona Diamondbacks), Walt Dropo (1950 AL Rookie of the Year), Jim Reynolds (umpire), and Dan Iassogna (umpire). Ten players were selected in the 2011 MLB Draft, including first round picks Matt Barnes (Boston Red Sox) and George Springer (Houston Astros). Anthony Kay was also drafted in the first round by the NY Mets. [6] As of 2017, Nick Ahmed, Matt Barnes, Scott Oberg, George Springer, Ben Caspirius and Anthony Kay are on active Major League rosters.
Player awards
[edit]Retired numbers
[edit]The Huskies have retired three numbers in their more than 100-year history.[7]
| Uconn Huskies baseball retired numbers | |||
| No. | Name | Pos. | Career |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | J. O. Christian | Head Coach | 1936–61 |
| 28 | Andy Baylock | Head Coach | 1980–2004 |
| 35 | Larry Panciera | Head Coach | 1962–79 |
All-Americans
[edit]The following All-Americans are recognized by the University of Connecticut. First team selections are noted with a check.[8]
| Season | Name | Position | ABCA | BA | CB | NCBWA |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Bob Wedin | P |  | N/A | ||
| 1959 | Moe Morhardt | OF | | N/A | ||
| Bill Stevens | OF | N/A | ||||
| 1961 | Joe Clement | P | N/A | |||
| 1963 | Eddie Jones | P | | N/A | ||
| 1967 | George Greer | OF | N/A | |||
| 1968 | N/A | |||||
| 1972 | John Ihlenburg | 3B | N/A | |||
| 1976 | Tom Germano | P | N/A | |||
| 1979 | Colin McLaughlin | P | N/A | |||
| Randy LaVigne | OF | N/A | ||||
| 1988 | Charles Nagy | P | N/A | |||
| 1993 | Dennis Dwyer | OF | N/A | |||
| 1994 | Brian Majeski | OF | N/A | |||
| 1996 | Jason Grabowski | DH | | N/A | ||
| 1997 | N/A | |||||
| 1999 | Mike Scott | OF | N/A | |||
| 2010 | Mike Nemeth | 1B | ||||
| 2011 | Matt Barnes | P | | | | |
| George Springer | OF | | | | ||
| Kevin Vance | P | |||||
| 2013 | L. J. Mazzilli | 2B | ||||
| 2015 | Vinny Siena | 3B | ||||
| Carson Cross | P | |||||
| 2016 | Anthony Kay | P | ||||
| 2019 | Mason Feole | P | | |||
References
[edit]- ^ "University of Connecticut Brand Colors" (PDF). Brand.UConn.edu. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
- ^ "New Stadium to be Named Elliot Ballpark" (Press release). University of Connecticut. April 25, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
- ^ Tim Tolokan (March 12, 2018). "Time to Bring UConn Baseball into a New Home". UConn Huskies. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ Kathleen Megan (March 2, 2017). "UConn Trustees Approve $4.75 Million Design for 3 New Stadiums". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
- ^ "2024 Baseball Media Guide (PDF)" (PDF). University of Connecticut Athletics. Retrieved 2024-06-07.
- ^ 2012 Baseball Media Guide. uconnhuskies.com. pp. 49–51. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
- ^ "Three Former UConn Baseball Greats Have Numbers Retired". UConn Huskies. June 1, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
- ^ 2012 Baseball Media Guide. uconnhuskies.com. p. 48. Retrieved 2012-06-25.