The college baseball season is officially upon us.
UConn baseball team opened its 2026 campaign on Friday night under the lights in Scottsdale, Arizona. The Huskies took part of the MLB Desert Invitational at Salt River Fields at Talking Stick, the spring training home of both the Arizona Diamondbacks and Colorado Rockies, but took a gut punch from the Nebraska Cornhuskers. UConn fell 12-2 in a game that was decided by the end of the first inning.
Charlie West received the starting night nod from head coach Jim Penders, to mixed results.
West’s changeup showed elite strikeout potential, evidenced by his six punch-outs across just 3.2 innings of work. The left-hander struggled to limit the baserunners, though. The junior allowed six hits and six free passes, with two of those being hit-by-pitches.
Out of the bullpen, Evan Hamberger made his season debut, while Charlie Hale and Garret Garbinski made their UConn debuts.
Hale performed best out of the three. After working as a starter for most of last season with Endicott College, the righty gave up just one run in 1.2 innings as the swingman.
Garbinski struggled immensely after missing all of last season with Tommy John surgery. The 21-year-old was shellacked for four runs in the game’s final inning.
University of Maine transfer Evan Menzel got first cracks at replacing Ryan Daniels’ infield spot, getting the start at second base and reaching base once.
Menzel, primarily a third baseman at Maine, was pushed off the hot corner in deference to the returning Maddix Dalena. After being named 2025 Preseason Big East Player of the Year before missing most of the season with a wrist injury, Dalena returned to UConn’s lineup and picked up one of the team’s four hits on the night.
That knock, an RBI single to score Menzel, gave UConn a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. Jackson Marshall also singled in the inning.
That advantage was short lived, though. The Cornhuskers picked four runs in the bottom of the frame and never looked back. Another run in the second and three more in the sixth pushed the game into blowout territory.
Preseason All-Big East selection Tyler Minick scratched one more across with an RBI single in the top of the seventh, one of two hits on the night for the outfielder. That would be it for UConn while Nebraska scored four more in the bottom of the inning for the mercy rule win.
Shortstop Dylan Carey tripled in the final two runs of the night to walk it off. That was part of a bigger three hit, four RBI performance for the senior.
As a team, the Cornhuskers collected 16 hits. In addition to Carey, Case Sanderson and Cole Kitchens both had three-hit nights.
On the mound, Ty Horn got the start for Nebraska. After allowing the run in the first, the right-hander finished his night with 3.2 scoreless and a total of six strikeouts.
The Huskies will be back on the field tonight, looking to regroup against Kansas State in a 7 p.m. Valentine’s Day showdown at Scottsdale Stadium, the spring training stadium of the San Francisco Giants. The game will stream live on MLB.com.
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