Herald news service
CONWAY, S.C. — Joe DeMers pitched eight strong innings and Washington scored five runs in the eighth inning to break open a close game as the Huskies beat UConn 7-1 in the first game of the NCAA Conway Regional on Friday at Brooks Springs Field.
No. 3 seeded-Washington (31-23) will face No. 1-seed Coastal Carolina on Saturday.
“I thought we played a pretty good game,” Lindsay Meggs said after he improved to 4-4 in three postseason appearances as the Washington head coach. “We didn’t make an error, we reached double-digit in hits, and I’m really pleased with the way Joe pitched.”
UConn (35-21-1) opened the scoring the in the first inning stringing together a pair of hits and a walk off DeMers to grab the early advantage. But, the first inning run turned out to be the only one the All-Pac-12 junior would allow.
DeMers (7-3) retired 12 of the next 13 batters he faced and didn’t allow another hit until a lead-off single in the sixth inning. He gave up six hits, issued a walk, hit a batter and struck out six in his 107-pitch outing.
Leading 2-1, the Huskies sent 10 batters to the plate and scored five times to put the game away in the eighth inning. Levi Jordan had an RBI single and AJ Graffanino picked up his second run batted in of the game with a hit that ricocheted off pitcher Jacob Wallace to force him to the bench.
Willie MacIver followed with a safety squeeze that Jordan was able to score on when he dislodged the ball from catcher Zac Susi’s glove with his foot.
Kaiser Weiss followed with a RBI single and the final run scored when Mason Cerrillo grounded into a fielder’s choice.
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