Rhode Island Rivalry Continued

Baseball

By: Mike Northup

Posted: 4/23/08

Meeting No. 178 between the UConn and Rhode Island baseball teams on April 9 was a memorable back-and-forth match-up that the Huskies won 11-7 thanks to a big day at the plate and from the bullpen. According to the UConn head coach Jim Penders, meeting No. 179 should be just as competitive between the two familiar foes.

Lefthander Elliot Glynn (1-2, 5.45 ERA) will start things off on the mound for UConn (21-21) today as the Huskies try to go 2-0 against the Rams (20-19-1) this year. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. at URI's Bill Beck Field.A win would make it the first season-sweep of URI since the 2006 season, when UConn beat the Rams in both games of a doubleheader at J.O. Christian Field.

This year, Glynn has been most successful when he has good command of his pitches. In Glynn's last outing, a no-decision in a 4-3 win against Hartford, he threw a solid six innings of three-run ball, while striking out five.

He faced just three batters over the minimum in that game to help keep the Huskies in contention for the eventual come-from-behind win.

"His whole thing is just if he can get ahead and work ahead," Penders said. "He doesn't do that all the time, but if he can get ahead with his fastball and he's got a pretty good breaking ball he can command the strike zone. Hopefully we can score enough runs behind him."

Despite the quality pitches in his arsenal, Glynn's biggest advantage comes from his demeanor on the field Penders said.

"His biggest attribute is that he's a competitor and he battles, even if he doesn't have his best stuff," Penders said. "He's going to put forth a great effort and for a freshman, I've got an awful lot of confidence in him."

While it has been a struggle for the Huskies lately on the diamond, the team taking the mantra of "you're only as good as your last game" to heart, according to Penders, who wants them focusing on the road ahead instead of what got them to this point in the season.

"In retrospect you look back and say we're 20-21, but a month later we were a double away from a Big East Championship," Penders said. "Can't be really excited about our season, but we also know that we've got enough games in front of us that we can really make it a step in the season that we can build on."

URI came into the last meeting struggling on the year, losing three in a row before losing to UConn. This time around, however, URI looks like a whole new team according to Penders.

"I don't think they're going to be quite the same team," Penders said. "They've got a lot of young guys that have obviously gotten some confidence, so they've been playing well."

URI has come in winning 9 of its last 10 games, and has scored five or more runs in all but one of those games.

While the Rams don't overpower pitchers at the plate, their propensity for small ball and being active on the basepaths means that Glynn will have to be precise and efficient with his pitches to hold them in check.

"They're gonna put pressure on us to field the baseball," Penders said.

Because of that pressure, the Huskies can't afford to play defense like they did in the first two games of the Seton Hall series (both losses) where they committed a combined seven errors.

At this point in the season, Penders said that while they are trying to win every game, the Huskies' biggest focus is on improving its 7-11 Big East record.

"While the out-of-league record is important, it's more important that we just play well," Penders said. "Get better today, get better tomorrow so that we can win on the weekends."

Momentum could be huge going into the weekend, when UConn travels to Morgantown to face fifth-place West Virginia in a three-game series starting Friday.

Contact Mike Northup at

Michael.Northup@UConn.edu.