Huskies Baseball Lose To Georgia Tech, Eliminated From NCAA Tournament – Hartford Courant
UConn baseball’s run in the NCAA Tournament is over.
The Huskies were eliminated 7-5 by Georgia Tech, which scored twice in the top of the ninth to win, at the regional in Gainesville, Fla., on Sunday.
“It’s incredibly hard to see the guys that just played their last game in our uniform,” UConn coach Jim Penders said afterward. “They gave every drop of energy, sweat and tears to the program over the years. They left it better than they found it. It’s very difficult to look them in the eye with the finality of it.”
Georgia Tech will have to defeat top-seeded Florida twice, Sunday night and Monday to advance. The Huskies (38-25) came back from a five-run deficit to tie the Yellow Jackets in the elimination game, but ace reliever Pat Ruotolo couldn’t hold down the relentless Georgia Tech lineup, in which every hitter was hitting .295 or better.
With the game scoreless in the fourth inning, Georgia Tech scored five runs against UConn starter Wills Montgomerie, three on a home run by Joey Bart, the first homer of his college career.
UConn chipped away at the lead, scoring in the fourth, fifth and sixth and finally tying the game at 5-5 on John Toppa’s double in the seventh.
“We got down and [the hitters] kept battling every inning,” Mongomerie said. “They wouldn’t stop. That’s what I love about our team.”
Ruotolo, who threw 40 pitches to close UConn’s 7-6 victory over Georgia Tech on Friday, relieved Devin Over in the eighth. In the ninth, Ryan Peurifoy doubled and scored on Ruotolo’s throwing error. Tristin English singed in another run, the Jackets’ 14th hit.
Reliever Matthew Gorst held UConn to three hits over the final four innings to get the win, retiring the Huskies 1-2-3 in the ninth.
The Huskies finished the regular season with nine wins in a row, then won the American Athletic Conference Tournament to secure an NCAA bid, the program’s fourth in six years. When they beat Georgia Tech Friday, they had won 14 of 15 games, and they fought back from a 5-2 deficit to tie Florida, the top-ranked team in the entire field of 64, on Saturday night before losing 6-5.
“We pride ourselves on grit and determination,” Penders said. “That’s something you have to have at UConn. … It’s in our DNA.”
Seniors Bobby Melley, Bryan Daniello, Joe DeRoche-Duffin and Jack Sundberg, four of the first five hitters in the order, and reliever Devin Over were among those who played their final game on Sunday. Pitchers Anthony Kay, an anticipated first- or second-round pick, Ruotolo and Montgomerie are among UConn’s draft-eligible underclassmen.
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