Three Connecticut Colleges Will Play In the NCAA Baseball Tournament
Central Connecticut State, Fairfield, and UConn are going dancing.
Connecticut doesn’t have just one team dancing, they have three in the NCAA Baseball tournament. The Central Connecticut State Blue Devils, Fairfield Stags, and UConn Huskies won their conference tournaments and have punched their tickets to their regions.
The Huskies will be playing in the South Bend region with the Notre Dame Fighting Irish hosting. They are in a four team pool with Notre Dame, Michigan, and Central Michigan and will face Michigan on Friday at 7 p.m on ESPN3.
UConn finished the season with a 33-17 record and finished the season off on a 10-1 run. The Huskies are led by sophomore outfielder Kyler Fedko who is batting .411 on the season with 12 home runs and 53 RBIs. On the bump, UConn has gotten help from junior pitcher Austin Peterson who is 7-1 on the year with a 2.65 earned run average and junior Ben Casparius who’s posted a record of 8-4 with a 3.07 earned run average.
For the Blue Devils, they will be traveling across the country to play in Eugene, Oregon. The three other teams in their pool is Oregon, Gonzaga, and LSU. CCSU will matchup as massive underdogs against Oregon who holds a 34-17 record on the season.
While they maybe underdogs, the Blue Devils feel good. When I asked infielder Elliot Good how the team feels, he said “Based off of what happened in the conference tournament, the Blue Devils are fired up. This is a great group of guys who play for each other and bring all the energy to the table.”
In addition, Good said “Last time CCSU was in a tournament we beat a top 25 team, California, solid PAC-12 team. This is another situation where we are facing a similar team inn the PAC-12. We have confidence in ourselves and are excited to see what this weekend brings us.”
When asked about the energy that CCSU has and if it will be brought to the west coast, Good said “Yes, without a doubt. If we can come back and beat Bryant two games in a row and win the NEC back to back years, then we can do anything.”
Central is led by senior Dave Matthews who is batting .297 with 7 home runs, 33 RBIs, and 13 stolen bases. On the mound, the three headed monster of senior Brandon Fox, senior Andrew Braun, and freshman Anthony Mozzicato have led the charge this season.
The third team out of the Constitution State to make the tournament is the Fairfield Stags. Fairfield finds themselves in the Austin regional with Texas, Southern, and Arizona State and will square off against the Sun Devils on Friday evening.
Fairfield enters the NCAA tournament with a 37-3 record. The Stags are coming off of a 7-2 loss in the MAAC Championship to Rider who will face Louisiana Tech. This season in their conference the Stags went 33-1.
Mike Caruso, who has a .414 average and 28 RBIs, and Justin Guerrera with 12 home runs lead the Stags into their battle with Arizona State. On the bump, the tandem of Michael Sansone, 2.35 earned run average, and Jake Noviello, 1.44 earned run average, have a combine 16-1 record.
The whole state of Connection is rooting for one of the three team representing the state to make a deep run. Good luck to the Huskies, Blue Devils, and Stags.