Sports

Title Game Win For Berlin's Marzi and UConn Capped Off Inconsistent Season

Lefthanded pitcher was moved from No. 1 starter spot but the move motivated him to find more steady performances.


Berlin's Anthony Marzi started the season as the number one starter for the UConn Huskies. While he pitched well, he was being outpitched by sophomore Carson Cross during the Big East games.

UConn coach Jim Penders moved Cross to the number one spot and Marzi to number two. All that did was serve as motivation for Marzi, a junior lefthanded pitcher.

"I was a little inconsistent," Marzi said from Storrs on Sunday. "I wasn't pitching badly but Carson Cross was pitching great. Coach told me he was going to move him to Friday and me to Saturday and I had no problem with it. He was pitching better and we were still going to be pitching in the same Big East series."

Marzi's confidence never wavered and he ended up coming up with a legendary performance in the Big East championship game against Notre Dame. He allowed four hits, struck out six and walked two in going the distance in leading UConn to the 8-1 title game win.

"I had pitched well against Notre Dame when we played them so I was pretty confident," Marzi said. "I pitched against them during the year and left with the lead. Our bullpen didn't hold the lead and we ended up losing the game but I was confident and I wanted to finish what I started." 

With the win, UConn made the NCAA Tournament for the third time in four years. This is the second trip to the NCAA Tournament for Marzi in his three years at UConn.  

The Huskies will likely travel to Blacksburg, VA. Wednesday where their bracket includes host Virginia Tech, Oklahoma and Coastal Carolina.

"I think we have the only bracket with four major schools in it," Marzi said. "But we are confident. That opener against Virginia Tech will be huge. It will be just like the Louisville game. If we can knock off Virginia Tech in the first game we could go right through the bracket. We will need to play great but it wouldn't surprise me."

Marzi said his season mirrored the Huskies' season. UConn is 34-26 but struggled to put long winning streaks together.

"We have talent, there is no doubt about that," Marzi said. "We struggled at times but we put things together in the tournament. I just hope we can keep it going." 


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