McDonald Injures Right Leg In 4-2 Victory

UConn baseball head coach Jim Penders has a great deal of confidence in his bullpen, frequently shortening starters' innings to bridge the gap sooner to his relieving core.

In Monday's 4-2 win over UMass, however, Penders had to turn to the bullpen earlier than he and the rest of the team would have liked as starter Matt McDonald went down in the first inning with an unspecified leg injury.

The first two UMass batters of the game went down quickly as McDonald got UMass leadoff hitter and center fielder Brian Baudinet to fly out to center field to start the game and getting shortstop Ryan Franczek to strike out swinging.

After the third pitch to UMass second baseman Adam Tempesta, the third hitter of the inning, McDonald walked gingerly off the mound, took about six steps toward first base, and immediately dropped himself to the ground clutching his right leg.

"I was scared to death to see that," Penders said.

McDonald was taken off the field under the assistance of trainers and was brought to the Burton Family FootballComplex for X-rays, which came back negative.

It wasn't known immediately after the game what the extent of McDonald's injury was, but Penders remained hopeful that it was nothing more than a sprain, which would keep him out for a couple weeks.

It also remained unclear to the team how exactly McDonald injured his leg and even McDonald himself couldn't explain what led to the injury according to Penders.

"[McDonald] wouldn't come out unless something was wrong," added catcher Pat Mahoney.

McDonald isn't the first starter to be seriously injured this season for the Huskies. Sophomore Bob Van Woert injured his elbow against UNC Greensboro earlier this year and sophomore Greg Nappo is out for the season after undergoing Tommy John surgery in the off-season.

With the holes in the pitching staff, Penders said that somebody's going to have to step up and take on the innings for the team.

Luckily for the Huskies, the bullpen once again proved its worth to the team as relievers Doug Jennings, Erik Turgeon and Matt Karl stepped up Monday and limited the Minutemen to two runs on six hits in 8.1 innings.

"We've got a real quality bullpen," Jennings said. "You can throw in anyone any time and get the quality innings that you need."

Jennings, who had only thrown 6.1 innings prior to the game, replaced McDonald in the first inning and went on to throw 4.1 solid innings, giving up the only runs UMass would score all game on a two-run home run to third baseman Jim MacDonald. Jennings went on to retire seven of the last nine batters he faced after the home run.

With the spot opened up by McDonald's absence, Penders said that Jennings could be a candidate to fill into the rotation.

"He has a lot of confidence," Turgeon said of Jennings.

Turgeon bounced back from a two-inning, seven-earned-run outing in the Huskies' 14-5 loss to Louisville last Thursday to throw three innings of shutout ball, scattering two hits and striking out one, while not walking any batters.

"As a pitcher if you have a rough outing, especially as a reliever where you're only throwing every three or four days, it feels good to bounce back in there and have a good outing," Turgeon said.

Closer Matt Karl came into the top of the ninth and after UMass' MacDonald hit a single to left field, was able to induce a 5-4-3 double play to end the game and earn his second save of the season.

Contact Mike Northup at Michael.Northup@UConn.edu.