The Daily Campus

Issue date: 4/29/08 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Dan Gindraux Trent DeLazzer will try to get UConn back on track when they begin their homestand Tuesday.

Last season, the Huskies snuck into the Big East Tournament as the eighth seed and managed to play their way into the championship game against Rutgers.

UConn, which now sits at the ninth spot in the conference, will have some work to do in their final 10 games of the season, including series against Notre Dame and Pittsburgh, to even get the chance to make that run again.

The Huskies (21-25) begin their stretch run today when they host Vermont at 3 p.m. at J.O. Christian Field, which will kick off a five-game homestand this week.

Weather could be a factor, as heavy rain is predicted to fall in the area for most of the day. Huskies head coach Jim Penders said the decision to play or postpone the game would be made early because of the distance the Catamounts must travel.

Weather-permitting, Trent DeLazzer will get the start for the Huskies, and is coming off a five-inning effort against Brown, where the Huskies fell 14-10 April 16. DeLazzer gave up three runs on four hits and struck out five, earning the no-decision.

UConn hopes DeLazzer can end the streak of poor pitching performances as, overmatched by the Mountaineers' offense, the Huskies' pitching staff gave up 10, 12 and 17 runs in three games this weekend.

The Huskies' bats were stagnant Friday and Sunday, managing only nine hits off West Virginia's starters, and scoring only four runs in the two games.

"We had two blowouts sandwiched around a game that we probably should have won, and didn't," Penders said. "It was an extremely frustrating weekend."

The lone bright spot was during Saturday's loss, where the Huskies put up 11 runs on the Mountaineers and led in the bottom of the ninth. But a two-out, two-RBI, inside-the-park home run by center fielder Austin Markel gave West Virginia the walk-off win.

Huskies center fielder Harold Brantley Jr. hit the wall hard and fell to the ground after trying to catch Markel's long fly ball, but he could not get up off the warning track in time to stop Markel from circling the bases and ending the game.

Continued...

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