The UConn Huskies (26-20) used a pair of home runs from the bottom of the lineup to outlast the Rutgers Scarlet Knights (22-23), 5-4, at Bainton Field in Piscataway, NJ on Tuesday.
After dropping to sixth in the order last week against Rhode Island and staying in that slot throughout last weekend’s Georgetown series, Chris Polemeni slid one spot lower against Rutgers with loud results. The designated hitter’s two-out, full count home run to left with a pair of runners on in the top of the fourth started the scoring for both teams and gave Connecticut a three run lead.
The ball just snuck out over the outstretched glove of Quinten Perilli and would have had enough distance even if the left fielder hadn’t mistimed his jump at the wall.
Three innings later, backup catcher Chris Cancel hit the first homer of his collegiate career to right field to give the Huskies an insurance run and extend their lead back to two after a pair of Rutgers runs in the fifth.
Cam Righi added an RBI single and later in the inning to extend the advantage all the way back to three.
In that inning, three straight doubles, the middle coming as an RBI ground-rule double for Gabriel Rivera, and a run-scoring groundout from Yomar Carreras pushed the Scarlet Knights within one before Cancel’s long ball again lengthened the Huskies’ lead.
While the rough fifth chased UConn starter Charlie Hale from the game, the right-hander still finished with a respectable line of two earned over 4.2 innings of work. After earning the save in the series finale against Georgetown on Sunday, Hale took the mound for his seventh start of the season. Though the eight hits given up is an unsightly mark, the junior allowed just two free passes.
Much like they did after Polemeni’s home run, Rutgers battled back after Cancel’s shot. It took the Scarlet Knights less than a half inning this time around, capitalizing on a Maddix Dalena error at third base in the bottom of the seventh to gain an extra out and a passed ball to move a runner over to third.
After the passed ball, Trey Wells grounded another ball towards third. While Dalena managed to record a clean out, it was just the second of the inning as Rutgers pulled within one.
The unearned run marked the second time in four games that a Dalena error has led to a free run for an opposing lineup.
The Scarlet Knights got a bit too close for comfort in the penultimate inning, using a pair of two-out singles to send Chase Krewson all the way around the bases after a base hit of his own earlier in the inning. Jack Sweeney picked up the RBI. UConn challenged a safe call at third after Matt Chatelle went first to third on Sweeney’s hit but were unsuccessful.
It looked a little bit like déjà vu was going to strike the Huskies in the bottom of the ninth, as the Scarlet Knights again landed a trio of singles.
However, closer Paxton Meyers made sure the threat didn’t come to fruition, inducing a double play and punching out Krewson swinging on three innings to clinch the Huskies’ sixth straight win and secure his fifth save of the season.
Along with their home runs, Polemeni and Cancel were the only two Huskies to post multi-hit performances.
Though Jackson Marshall’s 19-game hit streak came to an end with an 0 for 2 day at the plate, he salvaged his day with a pair of walks and a hit by pitch to preserve his 35-game on-base streak.
The Huskies will likely get a chance to tie the all-time series record with Rutgers next season, as the win moves them to 36-37 all-time against their former Big East rival.
For now, UConn will look ahead to their first non-conference weekend series since the West Coast trip in March. The Huskies will play a three game set against East Tennessee State University (27-15) at Elliot Ballpark, with game one scheduled for Friday at 6:05 p.m. Saturday’s game will be played at 2:05 p.m., while first pitch Sunday is scheduled for 11:05 a.m. All three games will stream live on UConn+.
