In the opening game of the Division I baseball tournament, UConn emerged victorious over Duke with a score of 4-1. The game was tied until Ryan Hyde broke it with a two-run single in the sixth inning. Freshman Tyler Minick contributed a solo home run in the ninth inning to extend the Huskies’ lead.
Freshman Tyler Minick hit a solo home run in the ninth inning to extend UConn’s lead over Duke. With runners on second and third and two outs, Hyde, a redshirt junior catcher from Berlin, Connecticut, delivered a key hit to right-center field off Blue Devils reliever Gabriel Nard, driving in Morton and Padilla. UConn’s starting pitcher, Ian Cooke, pitched 5 2/3 innings allowing only one run on four hits, striking out four and walking two to earn the win. Braden Quinn closed the game with 3 1/3 scoreless innings.
Duke’s Andrew Healy pitched four innings before surrendering one run on four hits. The bullpen took over after him and Ryan Higgins ended up with the loss as UConn capitalized on an opportunity that he created by walking Morton and Padilla at the start of the sixth inning. This marked the teams’ first meeting since 1988.
Next, UConn (34-23) will face the winner of the Oklahoma vs Oral Roberts game while Duke (39-20) will play against loser of that matchup in an elimination game.
