Stephen Slade / Courtesy of UConn 

Friday is a special day for Coach Jim Penders and his UConn baseball
squad. After tearing through the AAC Tournament, the Huskies find themselves
making their 4th NCAA appearance since 2010 when they face-off
against #2 Georgia Tech at 1pm in the first game of the Gainsville, FL regional. UConn
is the #3 seed in the region along with host #1 Florida and #4 Bethune-Cookman.

The tournament will be an extremely difficult test for the
Huskies who finished the season with a 35-25 record. The double-elimination format
will guarantee at least two games, but it’s hard to see a real path for UConn to
win the regional, especially with Florida looming. Florida finished the season
with a 47-13 record and have one of the best pitchers in the country in Logan
Shore. Shore finished the season with an amazing stat line in 15 starts: 10-0, 2.41
era, 76 Ks and 13 BBs. He won SEC Player of the Year and is a finalist for the Golden Spikes Award, the national player of the year.

UConn has a strong #1 starter in Anthony Kay, who won the
AAC Tournament MVP after winning his two starts, including the championship
game on short rest. He is expected to be a fairly high draft pick this year,
but will not pitch in the opening game in order to give him an extra day’s rest.

If nothing else, it will be fun to watch UConn play against
top-level competition.