The Bulldogs will face another 30-win team this weekend when they travel to Storrs to face the UConn Huskies. Winners of four-straight, UConn swept Villanova last weekend and are currently second in the conference standings.
 
Weekend Schedule
Saturday, May 10 – Doubleheader 12 PM
Sunday, May 11 – 12 PM
All Games Played at Elliot Ballpark
 
Schedule Shift
Due to inclement weather on Friday, May 9, the Butler baseball series at UConn has been moved to Saturday as part of a doubleheader. Game one will begin at 12:05 p.m. with game two to follow roughly 45 minutes after the completion of game one. The series finale will still be Sunday, May 11 at 12:05 p.m. 
 
Scouting UConn
The Huskies have not lost a BIG EAST game since April 6. They recently swept Villanova, St. John's, Seton Hall and Georgetown to improve their conference record to 14-4. League play opened with UConn losing two of three at Xavier. The Huskies remained on the road the following weekend to lose two of three at Creighton. After those two series, UConn has outscored conference foes 129-60. They scored 13, 17, and 14 runs at St. John's before posting 19, 29, and seven runs vs. Nova.
 
Caleb Shpur went 7-for-7 in the 29-run game against Villanova last weekend. He was responsible for one of UConn's seven home runs on the day. The home run leaders on the team are Tyler Minick (18) and Ryan Daniels (13), a pair of everyday starters that bat .369 and .354 for the Huskies. Shpur took over the as the team leader in hits (66) after the weekend. Following close behind is Minick with 62 and Rob Rispoli with 60.
 
Oliver Pudvar, Tommy Ellisen, and Charlie West were weekend starters for UConn against Nova. BIG EAST Preseason Pitcher of the Year Ian Cooke has been moved to the bullpen. Pudvar and Ellisen both have 50+ strikeouts this season while West is trending in the right direction with 41. Along with Cooke, UConn can rely on Brady Afthim late in games. The senior is 2-1 on the mound with a 1.50 ERA and ranks second in the conference with eight saves.
 
Recent History vs. Huskies
UConn swept Butler at Bulldog Park last year to signal the end of the 2024 season. Game one came down to the wire with UConn edging BU 10-9. They won game two 12-2 and game three 11-3. Butler's last win against UConn came on May 14, 2023, when the Huskies were ranked No. 9. Butler won the series finale 11-8. Every game of that series was wild with UConn winning 6-5 in extra innings and 7-6 with two runs coming across in the bottom of the ninth.
 
About Butler
The Bulldogs have BIG EAST wins over Villanova and Georgetown and head into their weekend series at UConn with a 3-12 conference record. Connor Sackett, Jack Bello and Jack Moroknek are all batting over .300 in BIG EAST games. Butler's workhorse on the mound has been Marcus Goodpaster. He has tossed 32 innings against conference rivals, the next highest total on the team is Tre Benjamin at 12.2.
 
On the year, Butler is 14-34 overall after taking a 9-7 loss at Bowling Green on Wednesday. Danny Barbero and Logan Crock each played great in the setback. Barbero went 4-for-5 with a home run to post four RBIs. Crock went 4-for-4 from the plate with one RBI.
 
Chasing History
Jack Moroknek needs to score nine more runs this year to break the Butler single-season record. Eddie Olszta scored 59 during the 1999 campaign and Kyle Smith tied that record in 2019. Moroknek scored two runs recently at BGSU to move his season total to 51. He has scored three runs in a game five different times this year.
 
Moroknek also has a chance at breaking the single-season total bases record. He enters the weekend with 135. Harrison Freed is the school record holder. He recorded 149 total bases in 2019.
 
Bulldog Bits
- Jack Moroknek leads the league and ranks 16th in the nation in total bases (135)
- Moroknek has 73 hits this season trailing only Seton Hall's Aiden Robbins (76) in the league
- Moroknek is second in the BIG EAST in home runs (15) and third in slugging percentage (.699)
- Moroknek ranks fourth in the league in RBIs (50) and sixth in runs (51)
- Moroknek has 25 multi-hit games
- Moroknek is batting .479 with runners in scoring position
- Jack Bello ranks fourth in the BIG EAST in hits (67) and batting average (.370)
- Bello ranks third in the league in doubles with 16
- BU leads the BIG EAST and ranks ninth in the NCAA in sacrifice flies (30)
- BU leads the conference in doubles (92) and is third in batting average (.286)
- The 'Dawgs rank second in the conference in slugging percentage (.461), third in hits (458) and third in home runs (55)
- Butler needs to hit eight more home runs to set a new program record
- AJ Solomon leads the team in walks (32) and on-base percentage (.447)
- Sackett is batting .414 against BIG EAST foes
- Sackett is a catcher that has recently started at first base for BU
- Bello hit his seventh home run of the season vs. Creighton
- Bello has only walked six times in 181 at-bats
- Ian Choi hit his fourth double of the year vs. the Bluejays
- Danny Barbero recorded a season-high four hits vs. BGSU
- Barbero recorded four RBIs in a single game for the third time this season at BGSU
- Logan Crock's first multi-hit game of his career came at BGSU
- Ryan Drumm has seven hits (four doubles) over his last five games
- Tate Foxson appeared on the mound twice vs. CU and struck out seven
- Jack Griffiths had a clean frame in relief vs. Creighton
- Moroknek had an RBI in every game of his last weekend series
- Brett Sherrard struck out three in his lone inning vs. CU
- Ben Whiteside went 2.2 innings vs. CU striking out two
- Goodpaster has tossed six innings or more in his last three starts
- Jack Griffiths recorded a career-high eight strikeouts at BGSU
- Alex Kanipe was clean at BGSU striking out two over 1.1 innings
 
BIG EAST Standings
Creighton 12-3, 32-13
UConn 14-4, 30-18
Xavier 13-5, 29-21
St. John's 9-6, 25-20
Seton Hall 6-9, 20-28
Villanova 4-11, 20-24
Butler 3-12, 14-34
Georgetown 2-13, 14-35
 
Around the BIG EAST
Georgetown at Seton Hall
Villanova at St. John's
Butler at UConn
Xavier at Creighton

Up Next
Butler's final non-conference game will be played in Columbus against Ohio State on Tuesday, May 13. The 6 p.m. start will stream on B1G+.