Huskies extend win streak to five after Bright House Invitational

The UConn baseball team has won five straight after sweeping all three games of the Bright House Invitational Tournament hosted by Stetson University this past weekend in DeLand, Fla.

UConn improves to 6-3 on the season after three weekend trips to Florida.

On Friday, the Huskies defeated the Ohio State Buckeyes 6-2 behind senior center fielder Billy Ferriter’s 4-for-5 afternoon at the plate. Ferriter singled in his first two plate appearances, then smacked his second career home run to give UConn the lead for good in the sixth inning. Ferriter also snagged his third stolen base of the season and 76th of his career that moved him into a tie for second place in program history with George Springer. He broke the tie and stole his 77th career base the next day against Central Michigan.

UConn was aggressive on base paths all weekend. They were caught stealing three times and picked off four times
Freshman third baseman Vinny Siena had three hits out of the two hole. The top three in the order, Ferriter, Siena and senior second baseman LJ Mazzilli, combined for nine of UConn’s 14 hits.

Junior Anthony Marzi picked up his first win of 2013 after pitching 6.1 innings, striking out four batters and only walking one. Senior Pat Butler pitched the final 2.2 to earn his first save of the season.

In Saturday’s 6-2 win over Central Michigan, sophomore Carson Cross did not allow a run over six innings to earn his second win of the season. He gave up just three hits and struck out four.

Sophomore right fielder Jon Testani homered, scored two runs and walked three times in the win.

Mazzilli drove in four runs to power the Huskies past Stetson 9-3 in Sunday afternoon’s finale. Mazzilli also moved into second place all-time with 55 career doubles, trailing only Mike Nemeth who finished his UConn career with 70.

Junior Brian Ward pitched six shutout innings before giving up three runs on three hits in the seventh. The Huskies held on to the lead and Ward earned his first win of the season.

Sophomore Eric Yaverone had an RBI single which gives him a career-long nine-game hitting streak to begin the season.

The Huskies will head to Huntsville, Texas on Friday for a three-game series with Sam Houston State.