JACKSONVILLE, FL (March 11) – The Huskies showed they could win in both a slugfest and a pitcher’s duel on Thursday night as the University of Connecticut defeated Illinois State 18-8 and topped Butler 5-2 for its fifth straight victory at the Kennel Club Classic in Jacksonville Florida. The pair of triumphs improves the Huskies’ record to 5-5 on the season while Illinois State slips to 3-5 and Butler drops to 3-8.

After jumping out to a 2-0 victory in the first, the Huskies found themselves trailing Illinois State 4-3 in the fifth. However, UConn tattooed the Redbirds for 15 unanswered runs and posted a ten run inning in the sixth.

Clemson transfer Jeff Hourigan (Beacon Falls, CT) led off the fifth with a solo shot and freshman backstop Larry Day (Amesbury, MA) hit a two run double to give the Huskies an 8-4 lead they would not look back.

Keith Potvin (Manchester, NH) started the game for Connecticut and earned the win, surrendering four earned runs in 5+ innings while striking out four. Day was 2-5 with 4 RBI, and Bryan Maler (Ansonia, CT) went 3-5 for UConn.

Senior hurler Mike James (Roswell, GA) was the story of game two, as he pitched the Huskies’ first complete game of the season while giving up only six hits and one earned run. James also struck out 10 batters and walked three.

The Huskies were tied at two with Butler in the seventh but UConn plated three runs in the bottom half of the seventh, seizing a 5-2 lead it would not relinquish. Hourigan led off the inning with a walk and advanced to second on Mike Leonard’s (Vernon, CT) single. A catcher's interference call loaded the bases and Mike Mocerino (Northboro, MA) hit a sacrifice fly to left, which gave the Huskies the lead. Senior tri-captain Dave Tokarz (Seymour, CT) then hit a two out two run single to give the Huskies some insurance.

UConn is back in action on Saturday, March 13 when they take on Butler once again at 11:00 am in the final game of the Kennel Club Classic.