The UConn Huskies baseball team will be entering the NCAA tournament, starting this weekend, for the 19th time in school history. The Gainesville regional, hosted by the No. 1 seeded Gators, will run from June 3-6 at McKethan Stadium. The No. 3 seed Huskies will open play against No. 2 seed Georgia Tech, with the first game of the day on Friday at 1 p.m. The winner will play the winner of the Florida/Bethune-Cookman game at 6 p.m. on Saturday, and the losers will square off in an elimination game Saturday at noon. The winner of the Gainesville regional will take on the winner of the Tallahassee regional in Super regionals next weekend.
Huskies are in and the guys are pretty happy about it! #HookC#UConn takes on @GTBaseball on Friday, June 3 pic.twitter.com/ZCRIsJKnzh
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBaseball) May 30, 2016
The Huskies secured an automatic bid into this years tournament after winning the American Athletic Conference Championship last weekend. This is the team’s fourth ever title and second under Head Coach Jim Penders. UConn will make their first NCAA tournament appearance since 2013. The Huskies 1-6 all time against Georgia Tech, 2-6 against the Gators and have never faced Bethune-Cookman in the programs history. Head Coach Jim Penders says they have to stay hot to be competitive this weekend, the defense has been great the past couple of games.
THERE IS A NEW TROPHY HEADING HOME TO STORRS!#UConn claims the 2016 @American_BSB Tournament crown! #HookC pic.twitter.com/Hnv5frkEO6
— UConn Baseball (@UConnBaseball) May 29, 2016
The last time the Huskies stepped foot into McKethan stadium was in March of 2014 when UConn was swept by the Gators in three straight extra-inning losses. For the juniors and seniors on this UConn team, this field is a familiar place and they may be out for revenge and to prove they belong in this tournament. Penders says that it is an honor to be attending the No. 1 over all seed’s regional and it’s going to be super tough.
The Huskies will give Freshman lefty Tim Cate the start on Friday. Cate is 4-1 this season with a 2.71 ERA. UConn will take on Georgia Tech to start off the Gainesville regional Friday at 1 p.m.