Colleges: Daniels, UConn baseball outlasts Butler in 13 innings

May 12—Ryan Daniels' patience paid off for the UConn baseball team Friday night.

The freshman from Meriden drew a bases-loaded walk in the bottom of the 13th to give the No. 9 Huskies a 6-5 win over Butler in a Big East game at Elliot Ballpark in Storrs.

UConn (37-11, 12-3 Big East) has won eight in a row.

Stafford native Luke Broadhurst opened the 13th with a double. T.C. Simmons was intentionally walked, and Bryan Padilla's sacrifice bunt moved the runners to second and third with one out.

Pinch hitter Maddix Dalena was intentionally walked to load the bases. Two batters later, Daniels took ball four on a 3-2 pitch to bring home Broadhurst.

UConn trailed 3-1 entering the bottom of the fourth before scoring three runs in the inning to take the lead. Butler (11-39, 4-12) responded with two runs in the fifth to make it 5-4, but Dominic Freeberger's RBI double in the bottom of the inning tied it.

The Huskies got runners into scoring position in the 11th and 12th, but couldn't push a run across.

Ben Huber paced the Huskies with three hits, an RBI and two runs scored. Broadhurst added a hit and scored twice. Justin Willis (2-1) got the win while Cole Graverson (2-5) took the loss.

The teams continue their series today. First pitch is 2:05 p.m.

ECSU: Zach Donahue (South Windsor) had two hits and scored twice as the second-seeded Warriors topped No. 1 Rhode Island College 8-5 in the semifinals of the Little East Conference tournamentmin Providence.

Eastern (33-10) plays fourth-seed UMass Boston (24-17) in the championship game today at noon. If Eastern loses, a winner-take-all game in the double-elimination tourney would follow at 3p.m.

The Warriors jumped out to a 3-0 lead after two innings before RIC (30-13) got two runs back in the third. Eastern responded with four runs in the fifth, including a two-run triple from Alejandro Soriano.

RIC scored three times in the sixth, but it was too little too late. Eastern added a run in the eighth to complete the scoring.

Noah Plantamuro and Ryan Parent also had two RBIs in the win. Dylan Scudder (6-1) earned the win while Nolan Lincoln (3) recorded the save. Connor Davey (7-3) took the loss.

SOFTBALL

ECSU: South Windsor High grad Taylor Darby had a hit and two RBIs as the top-seeded Warriors beat No. 2 UMass Dartmouth 7-3 in the semifinals of the Little East tournament in Mansfield.

Eastern (28-8) has a rematch with the Corsairs (28-12) in the championship game today at noon. If Eastern loses, a winner-take-all game in the double-elimination tourney would follow at 3 p.m.

UMass Dartmouth topped No. 4 Castleton in an elimination game Friday night.

The Warriors scored twice in the first inning, including a RBI single from Darby. Eastern added two in the second, two in the fourth and one in the fifth to build a 7-0 lead. UMass Dartmouth got three runs back in the bottom of the seventh but wouldn't get closer.

Julia SanGiovanni added two hits and an RBI and Sarah Remillard a hit, an RBI and three runs scored for Eastern. Carley Stoker (15-1) earned the win. Enfield native Kaitlyn Shirshac (14-4) took the loss.

UConn: The top-seeded Huskies had the tying run on second in the bottom of the seventh but were unable to push it across as they fell to second-seeded Villanova 4-3 in a Big East tournament elimination game in Storrs.

The Wildcats (37-21) play No. 3 Seton Hall in the title game today (4 p.m.) with an if necessary winner-take-all game scheduled for 7 p.m. The Pirates (41-16) topped UConn (34-15) in the first semifinal Friday.

Villanova scored twice in the first and twice in the third to take control against the Huskies. It remained 4-0 until the bottom of the sixth.

Rosie Garcia's two-run single cut the score to 4-2 and Taylor Zatyk's sacrifice fly made it a one-run game. Villanova loaded the bases in the top of the seventh, but Payton Kinney got out of the jam.

With one out in the bottom of the seventh, sophomore Lexi Hastings singled to center. Caroline Pellicano struck out the next batter before Hastings stole second. But Pellicano got another strikeout to end UConn's comeback hopes.

Hope Jenkins (15-5) took the loss for the Huskies while Kelsey White (11-7) earned the win.

Bentley: Sam Petow (Glastonbury) had a hit and a run scored as fourth-seeded Bentley topped No. 8 St. Thomas Aquinas 8-0 in five innings to advance to the NCAA Division II East 1 Regional championship game.

The Falcons (30-15-1) play top-seeded and host Adelphi in the final today (noon) with an if necessary winner-take-all game scheduled for 2 p.m.

Bentley played the Panthers (47-15) in the first game Friday, a 2-0 loss. Petow had both of her team's hits in the loss.

WOMEN'S LACROSSE

UConn: Niki Miles and Maria Themelis recorded four goals apiece as Penn topped UConn 13-8 in the first round of the NCAA tournament in Newton, Massachusetts.

The Quakers (14-4) play No. 3 Boston College in the second round of the tournament Sunday. UConn finishes 12-7.

Penn built a 7-5 lead early in the third quarter. A goal from Morgan Carter cut UConn's deficit to one with 3:41 into the quarter, but the Quakers scored six of the next seven goals to put the game out of reach.

Carter finished with four goals. Windsor native Lia LaPrise contributed three goals and an assist while Kate Shaffer had a goal and an assist. Landyn White made 15 saves.

Anna Brandt and Julia Chai each scored twice for Penn. Kelly Van Hoesen stopped 10 shots.

MEN'S GOLF

Bentley: South Windsor native Jared Walter shot 6-over-par 78 on day two of the NCAA Division II Atlantic/East Super Regional at Iron Valley Golf Club in Lebanon, Pennsylvania.

The senior moved up two positions into a tie for 60th place in the event, which concludes today.

Walter finished with two birdies Friday. He sits at 13-over-par 157 for the tournament.