Florida Baseball: 2023 Gainesville Regional preview, prediction
By Matt Melton
UConn Huskies
As for the first team coming to Florida this weekend, UConn enters the postseason as the No. 2 seed in the 2023 Gainesville Regional.
The Huskies come to Gainesville sitting at 43-15 overall this season, a record that also included a 15-5 mark in Big East play to claim the conference’s regular season title. Led by head coach Jim Penders, the Huskies also own an 18-7 record in road games this season, and recently finished as the runner-up in the Big East Tournament.
UConn is currently batting for a combined .306 AVG as a team this season, and are led by multiple .300+ hitters in Dominic Freeberger, Jake Studley, Ben Huber, Luke Broadhurst, and David Smith. Pual Tammaro has also been a key player for the Huskies offensively this season, as has Korey Morton, who owns a .290 AVG with 10 HR, 44 RBI, and 21 SB.
The Huskies pitching staff owns a combined 4.86 ERA as a team this season, with names such as Stephen Quigley, Jack Sullivan, Ian Cooke, and Andrew Sears having been UConn’s primary starters this year. UConn also has one of the Big East’s top relievers in their bullpen in Zach Fogell (1.74 ERA and 53:18 K:BB across 41.1 IP), while Justin Willis, Garrett Coe, and Devin Kirby are all names to know.
Playing in the first game of the 2023 Gainesville Regional, UConn will open play Friday afternoon against Texas Tech.