2021 UConn Huskies softball team explained
The 2021 UConn Huskies softball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season. The Huskies were led by Laura Valentino in her 2nd year as head coach, and played as part of the Big East Conference after joining the conference for the 2020–21 academic year. They play their home games at the newly rebuilt Connecticut Softball Stadium. UConn finished with a final record of 22–20, and finished third in the Big East with a conference record of 12–9. They reached the final of the Big East Tournament, but fell to Villanova.
Previous season
As with other teams, the Huskies' 2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic during March. UConn was off to a promising start, with a 16–5 record, the first time the Huskies finished with a winning record since 2009. No conference games were played prior to the early cancellation of the season.
Personnel
Roster
| 2021 Connecticut Huskies roster[1] |
| | Pitchers- 00 - Payton Kinney – Freshman
- 16 - Meghan O'Neil – Sophomore
- 17 - Marybeth Olson – Senior
| | Catchers- 4 - Lauren Benson – Freshman
- 7 - Devon Casazza – Graduate Student
- 22 - Madisyn Estorga – Freshman
Outfielders
- 1 - Hollis Wivell – Junior
- 5 - Aziah James – Junior
- 19 - Reese Guevarra – Senior
- 20 - Ashley Esty – Junior
- 21 - Cali Jolley – Sophomore
| | Infielders- 3 - Taylor Zatyk – Freshman
- 6 - Rileigh DeWeese – Freshman
- 8 - Briana Marcelino – Senior
- 9 - Olivia Sappington – Senior
- 11 - Mackenzie Fitzpatrick – Sophomore
- 15 - Sami Barnett – Junior
- 23 - Jana Sanden – Freshman
- 24 - Emily Piergustavo – Junior
- 31 - Makenzie Mason – Freshman
- 41 - Morgan Ash – Junior
| |
Coaches
Schedule
| Legend |
|---|
| | UConn win |
| | UConn loss |
| | Cancellation |
| Bold | UConn team member |
| Non-Conference game | |
| 2021 UConn Huskies softball game log[2] |
|---|
| Regular season |
|---|
| February |
|---|
| Date | Opponent | Site/stadium | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Attendance | Overall record | BE Record |
|---|
| Feb 12 | vs * | St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
(Kickin' Chicken Classic) | Cancelled | | Feb 12 | vs * | St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
(Kickin' Chicken Classic) | Cancelled | | Feb 13 | at Coastal Carolina* | St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
(Kickin' Chicken Classic) | Cancelled | | Feb 14 | vs Tennessee* | St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
(Kickin' Chicken Classic) | Cancelled | | Feb 19 | vs * | FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
(FGCU softball tournament) | W 7–1 | Kinney (1–0) | Norred (0–1) | None | | 1–0 | | | Feb 19 | vs * | FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
(FGCU softball tournament) | W 4–39 | O'Neil (1–0) | Dunford (2–1) | None | | 2–0 | | | Feb 20 | vs FIU* | FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
(FGCU softball tournament) | W 3–1 | Kinney (2–0) | Dunford (2–2) | None | | 3–0 | | | Feb 20 | at | FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
(FGCU softball tournament) | L 1–3 | Mesiemore (1–3) | O'Neil (1–1) | None | 178 | 3–1 | | | Feb 21 | at Florida Gulf Coast* | FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
(FGCU softball tournament) | L 4–511 | Mesiemore (2–3) | Kinney (2–1) | None | | 3–2 | | | Feb 26 | vs Ole Miss* | | L 0–7 | Bruce (1–0) | Kinney (2–2) | None | | 3–3 | | | Feb 26 | at No. 23 * | Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX | L 0–5 | Mansell (1–0) | O'Neil (1–2) | None | 300 | 3–4 | | | Feb 27 | vs * | Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX | W 7–0 | O'Neil (2–2 | Ruiz (1–2) | None | 100 | 4–4 | | | Feb 27 | at No. 23 Baylor* | Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX | W 7–3 | Kinney (3–2) | Rodoni (1–2) | None | 300 | 5–4 | | | Feb 28 | at No. 7 Texas* | | L 2–165 | White (2–0) | Kinney (3–3) | None | 376 | 5–5 | | |
|
| March |
|---|
| Date | Opponent | Site/stadium | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Attendance | Overall record | BE Record |
|---|
| Mar 5 | vs * | Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
(UNC Tournament) | W 7–3 | O'Neil (3–2) | Nemeth (0–2) | None | 40 | 6–5 | | | Mar 5 | at * | Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
(UNC Tournament) | L 1–38 | Pickett (5–2) | Kinney (3–4) | None | 80 | 6–6 | | | Mar 6 | vs No. 17 * | Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
(UNC Tournament) | L 6–78 | Betenbaugh (4–0) | Kinney (3–5) | None | 40 | 6–7 | | | Mar 7 | vs Elon* | Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
(UNC Tournament) | L 0–18 | Quinn (3–3) | Kinney (3–6) | None | 40 | 6–8 | | | Mar 7 | at No. 14 * | | L 0–7 | St. George (7–0) | Kinney (3–7) | None | | 6–9 | | | Mar 13 | | | Cancelled | | Mar 13 | Georgetown | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Cancelled | | Mar 14 | Georgetown | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Cancelled | | Mar 17 | at * | | W 10–7 | O'Neil (4–2) | Lynchard (0–4) | None | | 7–9 | | | Mar 20 | at | | L 1–2 | Boyd (5–4) | Kinney (3–8) | None | | 7–10 | 0–1 | | Mar 20 | at Creighton | Creighton Sports Complex • Omaha, NE | W 9–1 | O'Neil (5–2) | Santa Cruz (2–2) | None | 143 | 8–10 | 1–1 | | Mar 21 | at Creighton | Creighton Sports Complex • Omaha, NE | W 10–5 | Kinney (4–8) | Boyd (5–5) | None | 102 | 9–10 | 2–1 | | Mar 24 | | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 10–25 | Kinney (5–8) | Houghton (1–1) | None | 81 | 10–10 | | | Mar 27 | | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 6–1 | Kinney (6–8) | Ricketts (6–5) | None | 81 | 11–10 | 3–1 | | Mar 27 | Butler | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 4–2 | Kinney (7–8) | Graves (3–4) | None | 81 | 12–10 | 4–1 | | Mar 28 | Butler | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 1–05 | Kinney (8–8) | Griman (0–2) | None | 60 | 13–10 | 5–1 | |
|
| April |
|---|
| Date | Opponent | Site/stadium | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Attendance | Overall record | BE Record |
|---|
| Apr 2 | at | | L 1–5 | Halvorson (4–3) | Kinney (8–9) | None | 50 | 13–11 | 5–2 | | Apr 2 | at DePaul | Cacciatore Stadium • Chicago, IL | L 5–6 | Gomez (2–0) | O'Neil (5–3) | None | 50 | 13–12 | 5–3 | | Apr 3 | at DePaul | Cacciatore Stadium • Chicago, IL | L 2–4 | Dalgarn (8–1) | Kinney (8–10) | None | 35 | 13–13 | 5–4 | | Apr 10 | at | | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 10 | at Providence | Glay Field • Providence, RI | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 11 | at Providence | Glay Field • Providence, RI | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 13 | | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 14 | at * | | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 21 | | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 21 | Seton Hall | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 22 | Seton Hall | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols | | Apr 27 | at Providence | Glay Field • Providence, RI | W 6–4 | O'Neil (6–3) | Grifone (1–5) | None | 50 | 14–13 | 6–4 | | Apr 27 | at Providence | Glay Field • Providence, RI | W 8–5 | Olson (1–0) | Murphy (0–1) | None | 50 | 15–13 | 7–4 | | Apr 28 | at Providence | Glay Field • Providence, RI | W 4–1 | O'Neil (7–3) | Alvarez (2–6) | None | 60 | 16–13 | 8–4 | |
|
| May |
|---|
| Date | Opponent | Site/stadium | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Attendance | Overall record | BE Record |
|---|
| May 1 | | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 4–3 | O'Neil (8–3) | Brown (4–8) | None | 113 | 17–13 | 9–4 | | May 1 | St. John's | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 9–15 | O'Neil (9–3) | Saric (1–5) | None | 113 | 18–13 | 10–4 | | May 2 | St. John's | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | L 2–6 | Kmett (5–5) | Kinney (8–11) | Brown (2) | 113 | 18–14 | 10–5 | | May 5 | Seton Hall | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 3–1 | O'Neil (10–3) | Smith (2–9) | Kinney (1) | | 19–14 | 11–5 | | May 6 | Seton Hall | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | L 1–2 | Carr (4–8) | Olson (1–1) | None | 77 | 19–15 | 11–6 | | May 6 | Seton Hall | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 6–2 | Kinney (9–11) | Smith (2–10) | O'Neil (1) | 77 | 20–15 | 12–6 | | May 8 | at | | L 0–1 | Rauch (17–3) | O'Neil (10–4) | None | 40 | 20–16 | 12–7 | | May 8 | at Villanova | Villanova Softball Complex • Villanova, PA | L 6–7 | Kennedy (6–3) | O'Neil (10–5) | None | 40 | 20–17 | 12–8 | | May 9 | at Villanova | Villanova Softball Complex • Villanova, PA | L 7–9 | Pellicano (3–1) | O'Neil (10–6) | None | 40 | 20–18 | 12–9 | |
|
| Post-Season |
|---|
|
|---|
| Date | Opponent | Seed | Site/stadium | Score | Win | Loss | Save | Attendance | Overall record | BET Record |
|---|
| May 13 | (2) Villanova | (3) | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 4–3 | Kinney (10–11) | Kennedy (6–4) | O'Neil (2) | 113 | 21–18 | 1–0 | | May 14 | (4) Butler | (3) | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | W 4–1 | Kinney (11–11) | Graves (6–5) | None | 113 | 22–18 | 2–0 | | May 15 | (2) Villanova | (3) | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | L 1–5 | Rauch (20–3) | Olson (1–2) | None | 113 | 22–19 | 2–1 | | May 15 | (2) Villanova | (3) | Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT | L 1–6 | Amarillas (7–3) | O'Neil (10–7) | None | 113 | 22–20 | 2–2 | |
Rankings from NFCA Poll, Tournament seeds in parentheses. | |
Notes and References
- Book: 2021 Softball Roster. March 24, 2021. UConn Huskies.
- Book: 2021 Softball Schedule. March 24, 2021. UConn Huskies.
