In the first of six Division I college baseball games at newly-renamed Dunkin’ Park in Hartford in April, No. 20 Connecticut got a pair of three-run home runs and some solid pitching to beat Maryland-Baltimore County, 11-2 on Saturday afternoon.
Home of the Hartford Yard Goats, the Double A affiliate of the Colorado Rockies, the 6,121-seat ballpark was rebranded Dunkin’ Park in March. It had been known as Dunkin’ Donuts Park since it had opened in 2017.
Each spring, the Yard Goats host games with the state’s Division I baseball programs. UConn will play three games in Hartford with Central Connecticut State, Yale, Hartford and Quinnipiac also playing at Dunkin’ Park. St. Joseph University, a Division III team out of West Hartford, will also be playing a game at the ballpark in April.
Andrew Sears notched his first career win for Connecticut on Saturday against UMBC with five solid innings of work. The left-hander settled in after a bumpy first inning to allow just two runs on four hits, did not walk a batter and struck out a career-high nine Retrievers.
Trailing 2-0, the UConn offense got going in the third inning with a five-run inning. Dominic Freeberger got the Huskies on the board with an RBI ground out and shortly after Ben Huber tied the game with an RBI single to left.
Jake Studley followed by mashing a three-run homer over the seats in left center field to make it a 5-2 Huskies lead. The Huskies wouldn’t look back, adding a three-run home run from Freeberger in the fourth.
The Huskies will look to go for its third sweep of the season on Sunday at 1:05 p.m. at Elliot Ballpark in Storrs.
The college game at Dunkin’ Park will be Monday, April 10, when UConn hosts Central Connecticut State at 4:05 p.m. Other upcoming college games include:
Wednesday, April 12: Yale vs. Hartford, 5:05 p.m.
Tuesday, April 25: UConn vs. Yale, 6:05 p.m.
Wednesday, April 26: St. Joseph vs. Westfield State, 10:30 a.m.
Thursday, April 27: Central Connecticut State vs. Quinnipiac, 10:30 a.m.
Twelve high school games are scheduled to be played at Dunkin’ Park this spring.
April 13: Bloomfield vs. SMSA, 3:30 p.m.
April 26: Lewis Mills vs. Berlin, 6:30 p.m.
April 28: University/Classical vs. HMTCA, 3:30 p.m.
May 8: Rocky Hill vs. Farmington, 3:30 p.m.
May 10: SMSA vs. Coventry, 3:30 p.m.
May 11: Windsor vs. Newington, 6:30 p.m.
May 12: Hall vs. St. Paul, 6:30 p.m.
May 22: Newington vs. Wethersfield, 3:30 p.m.
May 22: Ellington vs. Enfield, 6 p.m.
May 23: Conard vs. Hall, 3:30 p.m.
May 23: Granby vs. East Granby, 6:30 p.m.
May 24: Conard vs. Rocky Hill, 6:30 p.m.
UConn 11, Maryland-BC 2 At Hartford
UMBC (11-11) 200 000 000 — 2-5-3
UConn (19-6) 005 300 30x — 11-14-0
Jayden Shertel, Sam Daniels (5), Ben Craig (7) and Derek Paris; Andrew Sears, Brady Afthim (6), Michael Quigley (7), Braden Quinn (9), Joe Carrea (9) and Matt Garbowski; WP: Andrew Sears (1-0); LP: Jayden Shertel (2-2); 2B: Andrew Swenda (M), David Smith (C) 2, Luke Broadhurst (C); HR: Leewood Molessa (M); Dominic Freeberger (C), Jake Studley (C)
Gerry deSimas, Jr., is the editor and founder of The Collinsville Press. He is an award-winning writer and has been covering sports in Connecticut and New England for more than 40 years. He was inducted into the Connecticut Chapter of the National Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2025 and the New England High School Wrestling Hall of Fame in 2018.
