The UConn Fast Break - 5/22/2023

Another year, another baseball championship.

May 22, 2023

Welcome to this week’s Fast Break, and thank you for being a subscriber! Baseball got a three-peat!

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UConn dominates the Big East

No. 11 UConn baseball put the finishing touch on another successful regular season on Saturday, as the Huskies run-ruled Creighton, 10-0, in eight innings on Saturday. They head into the postseason with 40 wins for the second straight year and took the Big East regular season crown for the third consecutive season, with a 44-14 conference record since re-joining the league in time for the 2021 season.

Creighton is second in that timespan with a .645 win percentage. UConn has won the regular season and tournament championships each year since coming back and made the Stanford Super Regional in 2022.

While the odds are against it, UConn can even still get into the hosting conversation with another Big East Tournament title and some good fortune elsewhere. As of the start of play on Monday, the Huskies are No. 25 in the RPI and own a strong strength of schedule rating, along with an impressive 18-7 road record.

Jim Penders’ squad will face off against 4-seed Georgetown at 2:30 p.m. on Wednesday to open the Big East Tournament. On Thursday, the Huskies will take on whichever school matches their between No. 2 Xavier and No. 3 Seton Hall.

Weekly Rewind

Men’s Basketball

Gonzaga series – Jon Rothstein reported that the Huskies and Bulldogs have agreed to a multi-year series that will begin next season in Seattle.

Big 12 commissioner on campus - This isn’t exactly men’s basketball news, but we had to put the realignment bit somewhere.

Women’s Basketball

Huskies in the WNBA – 15 former UConn players have made opening day rosters.

Film Room ($) – An analysis of UConn’s struggles against Ohio State’s press.

UConn in the WNBA ($) – The season has begun.

Baseball

Huskies still could host – A breakdown on how UConn can continue their success to be able to host in the NCAA Tournament despite their recent struggles.

UConn falls to Creighton – The No. 11 Huskies found themselves struggling early, and despite their comeback effort, they still fell short losing 7-6. 

Creighton Comeback – After losing to Creighton 7-6 on Friday, the Huskies were able to bounce back and win the second game of the series, 6-3.  

Huskies earn Big East regular season title – With their 10-0 defeat over Creighton on Saturday, UConn claimed the Big East regular season title. 

Football

Transfer and roster updates – All the recent updates on the Huskies’ including transfers, changes to coaching, and other news.

Hockey

State of the Program ($) – The latest news on UConn’s men’s hockey team. 

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Highlights

In one of the most highly-anticipated recent free agent decisions in any sport, UConn legend Breanna Stewart made the decision to join the New York Liberty after starting her career with the Seattle Storm.

She dropped a franchise record 45 in her home Liberty debut, while grabbing 12 rebounds, and did it all in three quarters. Check out the highlights here.

Memory Lane

UConn baseball finished up a series with Creighton on the road to close the regular season and now will head to Mason, Ohio for the Big East Tournament.

In UConn’s first Big East Tournament, back in 2021, the Huskies and Bluejays played in a winner’s bracket semifinal for the right to play in the final and earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. In the most viral UConn baseball moment this side of Christan Fedko’s bat flip in the 2018 Conway Regional, Ben Casparius punched out his 13th batter at the end of seven shutout innings and shushed the Creighton dugout on his way back to his own.

UConn finished off the 2-0 victory as Justin Willis and Caleb Wurster combined to set down the final six Bluejay hitters in order and the following day, the Huskies earned the Big East Tournament win.

UConn, Great Pic

Earlier this month, UConn began the work to replace the hardwood at Gampel Pavilion for the first time in 33 years. We have been assured that pieces of this floor will be available for fans in the future.

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Parting Thoughts

There are two constants with conference realignment. One: The rumor mill is limitless. Two: Until university presidents have put pen to paper on an invitation and it’s accepted, nobody knows anything and someone always has an agenda to push.

For every Digital Sports Desk reporting UConn back to the Big East the night before it got picked up by local reporters, there are several anonymous Twitter accounts that are mouthpieces for different stakeholders in realignment, whether it’s boosters of a school, conference execs, or television network officials that want to see a certain event transpire.

Reporters are limited to obtaining information from reliable, vetted sources. Anonymous Twitter accounts are often sharing whatever second-hand nuggets they can find and are at the mercy of what these anonymous sources are willing to give them. Even the sources cited or mentioned in major publications have the same problem.

This isn’t to knock the reporters that release these pieces of news. Sifting through what’s real and what’s not is difficult, and something is better than nothing. However, beware of what’s out there, particularly message board posts that turn into “rumors” that then get published as credible. Everyone has an agenda.

That includes any news involving UConn. The university’s leaders have a duty to make the most money they can for the academic and athletic sides and put them both in a position for success. That might be staying in the Big East or leaving for a host of options, including the Big 12, ACC, or whatever. But we the general public have no idea how it will shake out, and in most cases can’t accurately predict what a conference should do.

In this case, having recently made a move in the interest of saving face, UConn is in a bit of a unique position, where it may not be prudent to go with an invite if one is extended. Most of the time, conventional wisdom says to leave if you’re under consideration for the opportunity to upgrade.

Either way, the powers that be need to do the math, and we’ll just have to wait and see.

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