The St. John’s Red Storm take on the UConn Huskies in game one of a doubleheader in a Big East college baseball game at Elliot Ballpark in Storrs, CT on Saturday, April 18, 2026. | Ian Bethune/The UConn Blog

A season-high five home runs and another stellar start from Charlie West muscled the Huskies over Georgetown in the series opener Friday, 14-2.

Maddix Dalena notched the Huskies’ first long ball of the day in the opening inning, bringing in the first three RBIs of his evening after lifting one over the wall in center field. UConn forced Hoyas starter JT Raab to throw 43 pitches in the first.

“I was so happy for Maddix,” Head Coach Jim Penders said via the UConn Baseball X account. “You know, nine RBIs on the night. Those captains got us going. [Rob Rispoli] and Maddix were fantastic with the bats.”

Rispoli was next up, as his home run to lead off the second inning was his first of the season after over 100 at bats and just the fifth of his collegiate career.

Later in that inning, Dalena got another chance to drive in runs. With the bases loaded, Dalena singled home a pair to make it 6-0 in the early going.

Jackson Marshall set up that at bat with a double earlier in the inning to put runners on second and third. The two-bagger extended his hit streak to 17 and his on-base streak to 32. Nater Wachter walked on a full count a batter later to load the bases, later scoring on a wild pitch after the Dalena base knock.

After giving Raab a breather in the third, the Huskies were right back at it in the fourth. A RBI double from Wachter, one of two on his day, knocked Raab out of the game after 3.1 innings and over 100 pitches, though the switch didn’t help the Hoyas out much.

Freshman reliever Max Whitmer surrendered Dalena’s second home run of the day as his first batter faced, putting another three runs on the board for the Huskies. That homer marked the third multi-home run game of Dalena’s four year career and officially gave UConn a double-digits lead.

While all of this was going on, Charlie West was not-so quietly weaving his best start of the season in the half innings between the Huskies’ offensive outbursts.

The junior secured his fourth win of the season and first in his last four Big East starts after striking out 13 batters, reaching double digits for the third straight outing. The left-hander had no problem generating whiffs, as 11 of his 13 punchouts came on swings.

Across his last three starts, West is averaging 15 strikeouts per nine innings.

The only real damage against West came in the seventh on a Jackson Thomas solo shot to center. West also gave up an unearned run in the sixth on a Dalena error.

Neither of the runs would matter much, as the Huskies had just kept adding on. Cam Righi joined the homer fest in the sixth by leading off the inning with a round-tripper to right center. Chris Polemeni did the same in the seventh, leading off the frame with one of his own on a full count.

Dalena later added his career-high ninth RBI of the day to end the Huskies’ scoring in the eighth on an RBI double to score Watcher.

On the day, the Huskies outhit the Hoyas by nine, finishing with 14 to Georgetown’s five. Bryce Detwiler’s pinch-hit double in the top of the ninth, his first hit in over a month, gave UConn 10 extra base hits.

The Huskies will have a chance to clinch the series on Saturday with co-ace Cayden Suchy on the mound. Game time in Washington D.C. is noon.

“I think their best starter is probably the guy starting tomorrow,” Penders said. “At least statistically, [Spencer Seid] seems to be the best. He’s got deception. It’s not going to be a homer day tomorrow, we’re going to have to be able to execute offensively.”

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