Wallace Blows Away Oklahoma State
The Story: UConn forced a winner-take-all final in the Oklahoma City Regional of the NCAA tournament yesterday, winning 5-2 against Oklahoma State after staying alive earlier in the day with a 16-1 thrashing of Nebraska. The Huskies will face the Cowboys again today at 7 p.m. with the winner advancing to the Super Regionals to face Texas Tech.
WALLACE STARS: Closer Jacob Wallace was sensational in the nightcap for UConn. Entering with two outs and the tying run on base in the seventh inning, Wallace struck out all seven batters he faced to nail down the save. Wallace, a finalist for National Pitcher of the Year, has allowed only one inherited runner to score all year and has a minuscule 0.69 ERA. How dominant is he? He has 16 saves and has 63 strikeouts with only 10 walks in 39⅓ innings pitched. His WHIP is 0.77 on the season.
WHAT DID PENDERS SAY? “[Wallace] has worked and worked to get into incredible condition. He’s got three pitches that are just electric, but about 13 or 14 months ago, he finally realized that he could be really, really good. The last thing was his confidence to come and now I know there’s not a better reliever in the country than Jacob Wallace, so I love handing him the ball.”
PRATO PROVIDES BREATHING ROOM: The Huskies led 3-2 in the seventh and had Wallace in, but Anthony Prato made it easy with a long two-run home run to give the Huskies a 5-2 lead.
BULLPEN SPOTLESS: It wasn’t only Wallace who starred. The bullpen tossed seven innings of relief and struck out 14 with only one walk. Cody Wurster picked up the win with three innings of relief. C.J. Dandeneau also tossed two innings of scoreless relief.
DUNLOP DOES EARLY WORK: UConn had a fresh bullpen for the second game thanks to eight strong innings from Colby Dunlap in the opener. The Huskies also pounded out 22 hits and 16 runs against Nebraska. UConn scorched Nebraska pitching, even though it lost the opener on Friday. UConn had 41 hits in two games against the Cornhuskers. The bats also came alive on Saturday in a 10-2 win over Harvard.
ANYTHING LEFT? The Huskies blew out the bullpen in the nightcap and Dunlop is out of play. Mason Feole, UConn’s ace, pitched Friday in the loss and would be on only two days’ rest. It could be another all-hands-on-deck game for the Huskies. Jimmy Wang only went 1⅓ innings on Saturday against Harvard while Jeff Kersten tossed 52 pitches against Oklahoma State and would presumably be limited. Jim Penders said after the game that he would check on Kersten’s availability but would likely turn to junior Kenny Haus, who pitched an inning against Nebraska yesterday afternoon, for the start.
Kemba Wants to Return to Charlotte
The Story: UConn legend and NBA All-Star Kemba Walker said he cried when he made the all-NBA third team and wants to re-sign with the Charlotte Hornets this summer.
KEMBA TALKS HORNETS: Walker has spent eight years in Charlotte and said that his family loves the town and he loves the area. He isn’t looking for the first ticket out of town to a huge market. That would make the Hornets a prohibitive favorite to re-sign him if they give him the full five-year, $221.3 million “Supermax” contract he is eligible to receive.
WHAT DID WALKER SAY? “Oh, no question, Charlotte’s definitely my first priority. That’s where I’ve been for eight years and that’s all I know. Not many people get a chance to play for one NBA team throughout their career. When I go on my Instagram, I see, ‘Kemba leave!’ ‘Kemba get out of Charlotte!’ People don’t understand, when they say you need to go ‘here’ and win that winning is not guaranteed anywhere.”
OUR TAKE: We love Kemba and we would love to see him stay in Charlotte, but the Hornets aren’t going to be able to put another star around him unless they draft one. At 29, we need to see Walker more in the playoffs. If the Hornets offer Walker the full Supermax, he has to take it and, hopefully, Dave Benedict is on the phone for a donation. If the Hornets try to get him without the Supermax offer, then the New York Knicks and the Dallas Mavericks come into play.
Walker would be magic in New York, and the Mavericks would be a great situation for the former UConn superstar. One thing we know is that Walker is an upstanding guy and will give the Hornets every chance to make him stay.
Morning Read
FORMER PUNTER COLES DIES: Former UConn punter Adam Coles has died. Coles, a native of Sydney, Australia, punted for the Huskies from 1999 to 2003. (Randy Edsall on Twitter)
SOONERS AT THE SUN: UConn will play Oklahoma in the Basketball Hall of Fame Women’s Showcase at Mohegan Sun Arena on Dec. 22. Florida State and Michigan will play in the second game of the doubleheader. (New Haven Register)
HUSKY TICKET PROJECT: Can’t go to a game? Want to support the football team? A group of alums has found the perfect way to show you care — send children to the game in your place. (Husky Ticket Project)
