2008 Woodie Awards
UConn Hoping to End Losing Streak
Baseball
Jim Merritt
Issue date: 4/22/08 Section: Sports
Matt McDonald will be handed the ball today with the task of helping the Huskies bounce back from a week that handed them four losses in six games.
But McDonald will have another mission against Fairfield - redeeming himself.
One week removed from a two-and-two-thirds-innings effort in which he gave up seven hits and seven earned runs against Northeastern April 14, a game that ended in a 9-6 UConn loss, McDonald will take the mound today against the Stags (11-24) at 3:30 p.m. at Alumni Diamond.
McDonald was distraught following the effort against Northeastern in a 9-6 loss, but his coach is confident in throwing the starter right back on the horse.
"We're going to run Matty McDonald back in there," said Huskies head coach Jim Penders. "He didn't have a good outing at all last week against Northeastern but he had an excellent outing the week before that at UMass."
Penders and the Huskies (20-21) are hoping for a repeat of the April 8 performance against the Minutemen, where McDonald pitched six strong innings giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking none.
The start was McDonald's first after being placed on the shelf after a right-knee injury forced him to miss two weeks. Ironically, the injury occurred against the Minutemen March 24.
McDonald will take his game on the road for the first time since starting at Georgetown March 14, where he went two and one-third innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits.
"Hopefully going on the road will be a nice thing for him to kind of get back on the bean and throw well," Penders said. "He's certainly shown that he's capable of throwing quality starts."
The Huskies could use a quality start from McDonald today at Fairfield, as they have seen little consistency out of the pitching staff during the last few games. Only Mike Hashem managed to pitch seven innings in their 11-5 win Sunday - the Huskies' only win in the weekend series against Seton Hall.
But McDonald will have another mission against Fairfield - redeeming himself.
One week removed from a two-and-two-thirds-innings effort in which he gave up seven hits and seven earned runs against Northeastern April 14, a game that ended in a 9-6 UConn loss, McDonald will take the mound today against the Stags (11-24) at 3:30 p.m. at Alumni Diamond.
McDonald was distraught following the effort against Northeastern in a 9-6 loss, but his coach is confident in throwing the starter right back on the horse.
"We're going to run Matty McDonald back in there," said Huskies head coach Jim Penders. "He didn't have a good outing at all last week against Northeastern but he had an excellent outing the week before that at UMass."
Penders and the Huskies (20-21) are hoping for a repeat of the April 8 performance against the Minutemen, where McDonald pitched six strong innings giving up two runs on four hits, while striking out four and walking none.
The start was McDonald's first after being placed on the shelf after a right-knee injury forced him to miss two weeks. Ironically, the injury occurred against the Minutemen March 24.
McDonald will take his game on the road for the first time since starting at Georgetown March 14, where he went two and one-third innings, giving up five earned runs on five hits.
"Hopefully going on the road will be a nice thing for him to kind of get back on the bean and throw well," Penders said. "He's certainly shown that he's capable of throwing quality starts."
The Huskies could use a quality start from McDonald today at Fairfield, as they have seen little consistency out of the pitching staff during the last few games. Only Mike Hashem managed to pitch seven innings in their 11-5 win Sunday - the Huskies' only win in the weekend series against Seton Hall.
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