Spring Break
Springer provides lift to middle of lineup
Chris Brodeur
Issue date: 4/15/09 Section: Sports
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In 2009, all signs pointed to a reprisal of that role for Olt as the team's go-to middle-of-the-lineup power threat. The Branford-born sophomore was filling up the slugging categories once again and he started right out of the gates, slamming six home runs and collecting 25 RBI over the season's opening half. But when Olt laid out with every inch of his 6-foot-2, 190-pound frame to snare a liner in the hole against UMass on March 30, he suffered injuries to his wrist and shoulder and landed on the bench.
With his slugger sidelined, coach Jim Penders - who, as coaches will, has remained mum on the specifics of Olt's ailments beyond acknowledging the obvious that Olt is indeed unable to go - was forced to look elsewhere on his roster for a cleanup hitter.
Freshman centerfielder George Springer made it easy on Penders, winning the job convincingly before UMass could board the team bus following an 8-1 pounding by the Huskies.
Springer smacked a first-inning grand slam and later added a solo shot, both of which left the ballpark via a slicing, high-arcing, opposite field flight-path and found nearly identical end destinations in the shrubs beyond the right field wall. He's added five more homers in UConn's 10 games since to run his season total to a team-best 10, which includes another multi-home run effort against UMass on April 8. His 33 RBI are tied with junior Peter Fatse for the club-high in that category.
If Olt was the reason to come out and see an otherwise inconsistent UConn team in the midst of another mediocre season (18-15 this year, 27-28 last year) in the early going, Springer has filled in seamlessly in his absence. The New Britain native has emerged as a star in his first collegiate season, scorching the ball from the cleanup spot, just as Olt did a year ago and in the early portion of the '09 schedule. There's no telling what UConn's lineup could accomplish with both hitters at their best, but at the moment, Penders has been impressed with the sudden leap in Springer's numbers as Olt heals.
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