2021 UConn Huskies softball team represented the University of Connecticut in the 2021 NCAA Division I softball season . The Huskies were led by Laura Valentino in her 2nd year as head coach, and played as part of the Big East Conference after joining the conference for the 2020–21 academic year. They play their home games at the newly rebuilt Connecticut Softball Stadium . UConn finished with a final record of 22–20, and finished third in the Big East with a conference record of 12–9. They reached the final of the Big East Tournament , but fell to Villanova.
Previous season [ edit ] As with other teams, the Huskies' 2020 season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic during March. UConn was off to a promising start, with a 16–5 record, the first time the Huskies finished with a winning record since 2009. No conference games were played prior to the early cancellation of the season.
Personnel [ edit ]
2021 Connecticut Huskies roster [2]
Pitchers
00 - Payton Kinney – Freshman
16 - Meghan O'Neil – Sophomore
17 - Marybeth Olson – Senior
Catchers
4 - Lauren Benson – Freshman
7 - Devon Casazza – Graduate Student
22 - Madisyn Estorga – Freshman Outfielders
1 - Hollis Wivell –
5 - Aziah James – Junior
19 - Reese Guevarra – Senior
20 - Ashley Esty – Junior
21 - Cali Jolley – Sophomore
Infielders
3 - Taylor Zatyk – Freshman
6 - Rileigh DeWeese – Freshman
8 - Briana Marcelino – Senior
9 - Olivia Sappington –
11 - Mackenzie Fitzpatrick – Sophomore
15 - Sami Barnett –
23 - Jana Sanden – Freshman
24 - Emily Piergustavo – Junior
31 - Makenzie Mason – Freshman
41 - Morgan Ash – Junior
Coaches [ edit ]
2021 connecticut huskies softball coaching staff[2]
Laura Valentino – Head coach – 2nd seasonChristie Novatin – Associate head coach – 2nd season
Jessica Jacobson – Assistant coach – 2nd season
Pattie Ruth Taylor – Volunteer assistant Coach – 2nd season
Schedule [ edit ]
Legend
UConn win
UConn loss
Cancellation
Bold UConn team member
*
Non-Conference game
2021 UConn Huskies softball game log[3]
Regular season
February
Date
Opponent
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
BE Record
Feb 12
vs Ohio *
St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC Cancelled
Feb 12
vs Tennessee *
St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
Cancelled
Feb 13
at Coastal Carolina *
St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
Cancelled
Feb 14
vs Tennessee*
St. John Stadium – Charles Wade-John Lott Field • Conway, SC
Cancelled
Feb 19
vs Northern Illinois *
FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL W 7–1Kinney (1–0) Norred (0–1)
None 1–0
Feb 19
vs FIU *
FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
W 4–39 O'Neil (1–0) Dunford (2–1)
None 2–0
Feb 20
vs FIU*
FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
W 3–1Kinney (2–0) Dunford (2–2)
None 3–0
Feb 20
at Florida Gulf Coast
FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
L 1–3Mesiemore (1–3)
O'Neil (1–1) None 178
3–1
Feb 21
at Florida Gulf Coast*
FGCU Softball Complex • Fort Myers, FL
L 4–511 Mesiemore (2–3)
Kinney (2–1) None 3–2
Feb 26
vs Ole Miss *
Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX L 0–7Bruce (1–0)
Kinney (2–2) None 3–3
Feb 26
at No. 23 Baylor *
Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX
L 0–5Mansell (1–0)
O'Neil (1–2) None 300
3–4
Feb 27
vs Lamar *
Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX
W 7–0O'Neil (2–2 Ruiz (1–2)
None 100
4–4
Feb 27
at No. 23 Baylor*
Getterman Stadium • Waco, TX
W 7–3Kinney (3–2) Rodoni (1–2)
None 300
5–4
Feb 28
at No. 7 Texas *
Red and Charline McCombs Field • Austin, TX L 2–165 White (2–0)
Kinney (3–3) None 376
5–5
March
Date
Opponent
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
BE Record
Mar 5
vs Elon *
Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC W 7–3O'Neil (3–2) Nemeth (0–2)
None 40
6–5
Mar 5
at North Carolina *
Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
L 1–38 Pickett (5–2)
Kinney (3–4) None 80
6–6
Mar 6
vs No. 17 South Carolina *
Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
L 6–78 Betenbaugh (4–0)
Kinney (3–5) None 40
6–7
Mar 7
vs Elon*
Williams Field at Anderson Stadium • Chapel Hill, NC
L 0–18 Quinn (3–3)
Kinney (3–6) None 40
6–8
Mar 7
at No. 14 Duke *
Duke Softball Stadium • Durham, NC L 0–7St. George (7–0)
Kinney (3–7) None 6–9
Mar 13
Georgetown Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT Cancelled
Mar 13
Georgetown
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Cancelled
Mar 14
Georgetown
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Cancelled
Mar 17
at Rhode Island *
URI Softball Complex • Kingston, RI W 10–7O'Neil (4–2) Lynchard (0–4)
None 7–9
Mar 20
at Creighton
Creighton Sports Complex • Omaha, NE L 1–2Boyd (5–4)
Kinney (3–8) None 7–10
0–1
Mar 20
at Creighton
Creighton Sports Complex • Omaha, NE
W 9–1O'Neil (5–2) Santa Cruz (2–2)
None 143
8–10
1–1
Mar 21
at Creighton
Creighton Sports Complex • Omaha, NE
W 10–5Kinney (4–8) Boyd (5–5)
None 102
9–10
2–1
Mar 24
Central Connecticut *Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 10–25 Kinney (5–8) Houghton (1–1)
None 81
10–10
Mar 27
Butler Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 6–1Kinney (6–8) Ricketts (6–5)
None 81
11–10
3–1
Mar 27
Butler
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 4–2Kinney (7–8) Graves (3–4)
None 81
12–10
4–1
Mar 28
Butler
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 1–05 Kinney (8–8) Griman (0–2)
None 60
13–10
5–1
April
Date
Opponent
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
BE Record
Apr 2
at DePaul
Cacciatore Stadium • Chicago, IL L 1–5Halvorson (4–3)
Kinney (8–9) None 50
13–11
5–2
Apr 2
at DePaul
Cacciatore Stadium • Chicago, IL
L 5–6Gomez (2–0)
O'Neil (5–3) None 50
13–12
5–3
Apr 3
at DePaul
Cacciatore Stadium • Chicago, IL
L 2–4Dalgarn (8–1)
Kinney (8–10) None 35
13–13
5–4
Apr 10
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 10
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 11
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 13
UMass *Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 14
at Fordham *
Bahoshy Softball Complex/Murphy Field • Bronx, NY Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 21
Seton Hall Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 21
Seton Hall
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 22
Seton Hall
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
Postponed due to COVID-19 protocols
Apr 27
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI
W 6–4O'Neil (6–3) Grifone (1–5)
None 50
14–13
6–4
Apr 27
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI
W 8–5Olson (1–0) Murphy (0–1)
None 50
15–13
7–4
Apr 28
at Providence
Glay Field • Providence, RI
W 4–1O'Neil (7–3) Alvarez (2–6)
None 60
16–13
8–4
May
Date
Opponent
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
BE Record
May 1
St. John's Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 4–3O'Neil (8–3) Brown (4–8)
None 113
17–13
9–4
May 1
St. John's
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 9–15 O'Neil (9–3) Saric (1–5)
None 113
18–13
10–4
May 2
St. John's
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
L 2–6Kmett (5–5)
Kinney (8–11) Brown (2)
113
18–14
10–5
May 5
Seton Hall
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 3–1O'Neil (10–3) Smith (2–9)
Kinney (1) 19–14
11–5
May 6
Seton Hall
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
L 1–2Carr (4–8)
Olson (1–1) None 77
19–15
11–6
May 6
Seton Hall
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 6–2Kinney (9–11) Smith (2–10)
O'Neil (1) 77
20–15
12–6
May 8
at Villanova
Villanova Softball Complex • Villanova, PA L 0–1Rauch (17–3)
O'Neil (10–4) None 40
20–16
12–7
May 8
at Villanova
Villanova Softball Complex • Villanova, PA
L 6–7Kennedy (6–3)
O'Neil (10–5) None 40
20–17
12–8
May 9
at Villanova
Villanova Softball Complex • Villanova, PA
L 7–9Pellicano (3–1)
O'Neil (10–6) None 40
20–18
12–9
Post-Season
Big East Tournament
Date
Opponent
Seed
Site/stadium
Score
Win
Loss
Save
Attendance
Overall record
BET Record
May 13
(2) Villanova
(3)
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 4–3Kinney (10–11) Kennedy (6–4)
O'Neil (2) 113
21–18
1–0
May 14
(4) Butler
(3)
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
W 4–1Kinney (11–11) Graves (6–5)
None 113
22–18
2–0
May 15
(2) Villanova
(3)
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
L 1–5Rauch (20–3)
Olson (1–2) None 113
22–19
2–1
May 15
(2) Villanova
(3)
Connecticut Softball Stadium • Storrs, CT
L 1–6Amarillas (7–3)
O'Neil (10–7) None 113
22–20
2–2
Rankings from NFCA Poll , Tournament seeds in parentheses.
References [ edit ]
Venue People Seasons College World Series appearances in italics
