UConn Huskies baseball

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.

UConn Huskies
2021 UConn Huskies baseball team
Founded	1896
University	University of Connecticut
Head coach	Jim Penders (18th season)
Conference	Big East
Location	Storrs, Connecticut
Home stadium	Elliot Ballpark (Capacity: 1,500) Dunkin Donuts Park (Capacity: 6,121)
Nickname	Huskies
Colors	National Flag Blue and White[1]
College World Series appearances
1957, 1959, 1965, 1972, 1979
NCAA Tournament appearances
1957, 1958, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1963, 1965 1968, 1970, 1972, 1977, 1979, 1990, 1993, 1994, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2016, 2018, 2019
Conference tournament champions
1990, 1994, 2013, 2016
Conference champions
2011

UConn has appeared in five College World Series and 21 NCAA Tournaments.

History

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 end of true regional play has hurt teams from the northeast, Connecticut included, as they have made just five NCAA Tournament appearances in 28 seasons since beginning play in the Big East in 1985. 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 three Big East Conference Baseball Tournament Championships in 1990, 1994, and 2013, one Big East Regular season championship in 2011, and one divisional championship in the first year of Big East competition in 1985.

Facilities

The Huskies will open the new 1,500-seat Elliot Ballpark, located at the southwest edge of the campus athletic complex, for their final season in The American in 2020. It will replace J. O. Christian Field, a 2,000-seat stadium located across the street from the new ballpark. Some games are also played 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.

In 2017, UConn released plans for new athletic and recreation facilities, including a new baseball stadium whose name would later be revealed as Elliot Ballpark. It is being 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] The stadium is being built across the street from J. O. Christian Field, on the site of Morrone Stadium, and will seat 1,500. Construction on the athletic complex began in mid-2018.[3][4][5][6][7]

Year by year results

Head coaches

The following is a list of all UConn coaches and their known records, through the 2017 season.[8]

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	488	345	4	.585

Huskies in the pros

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. [9] As of 2017, Nick Ahmed, Matt Barnes, Scott Oberg, George Springer and Anthony Kay (Toronto Blue Jays)are on active Major League rosters.

Player awards

Retired numbers

The Huskies have retired three numbers in their more than 100-year history.[10]

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

The following All-Americans are recognized by the University of Connecticut. First team selections are noted with a check.[11]

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

1. "University of Connecticut Brand Colors" (PDF). Brand.UConn.edu. Retrieved March 3, 2020.
2. "New Stadium to be Named Elliot Ballpark" (Press release). University of Connecticut. April 25, 2019. Retrieved July 27, 2019.
3. Tim Tolokan (March 12, 2018). "Time to Bring UConn Baseball into a New Home". UConn Huskies. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
4. Dan Madigan (February 3, 2017). "UConn releases info on possible new athletic facilities". The Daily Campus. Storrs, Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
5. Aman Kidwai (November 2, 2017). "UConn Getting New Soccer, Baseball, and Softball Stadiums". The UConn Blog. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
6. Kathleen Megan (March 2, 2017). "UConn Trustees Approve $4.75 Million Design for 3 New Stadiums". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
7. Kathleen Megan (February 10, 2017). "With Feasibility Study And Ticket Surcharge, UConn Moving Forward on Plans For New Stadiums". Hartford Courant. Hartford, Connecticut. Retrieved March 25, 2018.
8. 2012 Baseball Media Guide. UConnHuskies.com. p. 46. Retrieved 2012-06-25.
9. 2012 Baseball Media Guide. uconnhuskies.com. pp. 49–51. Retrieved 2012-06-27.
10. "Three Former UConn Baseball Greats Have Numbers Retired". UConn Huskies. June 1, 2004. Retrieved April 18, 2013.
11. 2012 Baseball Media Guide. uconnhuskies.com. p. 48. Retrieved 2012-06-25.