STORRS, Conn. – The University of Connecticut and the University of Tennessee have reached an agreement on a two-game series in the sport of men’s basketball, it was announced Wednesday.

The Huskies and Vols will meet at Connecticut in the 2010-11 season and then meet in Knoxville in the 2011-12 campaign.

“This is a great intersectional series for us to add to our future schedules,” said UConn head coach Jim Calhoun. “It will be an exciting match-up of styles and players, something fans of both teams can look forward to. For us, it continues our tradition of trying to schedule some of the best teams in the country, such as this year, where we will play at Michigan (Jan. 17) and Texas at home (Jan. 23), as well as Kentucky (Dec. 9) in New York and also the Pre-Season NIT.”

The remainder of UConn’s 2009-10 non-conference schedule will be released within the next few weeks and the complete 2009-10 schedule is expected to be released in late August or early September.

UConn finished 31-5 in 2008-09 and advanced to the NCAA Final Four. The Huskies finished 15-3 in the BIG EAST, tied for second place.

The Boston Red Sox had the right pitcher on the mound last night in Josh Beckett try and put an end to the 3-game losing skid. Unfortunately at the end of the night, it became a 4-game losing streak and one that has put the Red Sox back into second place in the AL East.

I think everyone, including the Red Sox, is at a loss for words right now. For one, they have run into some good pitching lately and aren’t getting too many hits. Of course since they’ve run into this good pitching, the bats have gone cold. They are hitting just .194 since the All-Star break.

So what do the Red Sox need to do? Do they need to go out and get a bat? Or do they need another starting pitcher?

If anything, I think the Red Sox need a bat and one that can play first base. There’s nothing wrong with Youk at all but a bat who can play first will allow Mike Lowell some rest. The starting pitching is just fine even with Wakefield on the DL. If Clay Buchholz can continue to replicate what he did last Friday in Toronto and the combination of John Smoltz/Brad Penny can come back around, they’ll be just fine.

But for now, it’s up to Buchholz to right the ship and pray that the bats get him some run support tonight in the heart of Texas.

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UConn Football links

My Sincere Apology [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

UConn Women’s Basketball links

Geno’s take on All-Stars [Jim Fuller – New Haven Register]

Geno on Diana Taurasi: “I’m going to help her as much as I can.” [John Altavilla – Hartford Courant]

Six Former BIG EAST Players Named To WNBA All-Star Team [BigEast.org]

They’re Geno’s WNBA All-Stars [Hartford Courant]

Five WNBA All-Stars give UConn something else to brag about [New Haven Register]

OU women announce schedule [The Norman Transcript]

Rebecca Lobo wore No. 50 for the UConn Huskies because of San Antonio Spurs’ David Robinson [Springfield Republican]

UConn Men’s Basketball links

UConn Scholarships for 2010-11 [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Since We’re On The Topic … More On Caron Butler [Mike Anthony – Hartford Courant]

Hilton Armstrong Highlights [UConn Huskies Basketball]

Other UConn related links

My Irrestistible Dance Moves [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Why You Shouldn’t Go To South Florida [Thoughts From a Fat White Guy]

Huskies in the Pros – Baseball Update [UConnHuskies.com]

There’s just something about rookie pitchers and the Boston Red Sox that has everyone baffled including the Red Sox.

Texas Rangers rookie Tommy Hunter allowed 4 hits and a run over six innings as they went on to a 4-2 win over the Red Sox in front of 28,555 at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

With their fourth straight loss, the Red Sox (55-38)  fall out of first place since June 8th as the Yankees beat the Orioles. The Rangers improve to 10 games over .500 at 51-41.

Josh Beckett started this one for Terry Francona and had an uncharacteristic first inning where he allowed 2 runs. He settled down after that though but allowed two late insurance runs. He did throw his second complete game in a row in taking just his 4th loss of the season. He allowed the four runs on 7 hits and a walk while striking out 7.

Hunter threw just 85 pitches in 6 innings while striking out 2 and walking one.

Jason Jennings walked two and struck out 1 in his inning out of the bullpen for the Rangers. Darren O’Day was perfect in his inning and the Red Sox struck for a run off of Rangers closer C.J. Wilson but he still got his 9th save of the season.

The struggling Red Sox offense had just 5 hits on the night and now are batting .194 since the All-Star break.

Dustin Pedroia, Kevin Youkilis, David Ortiz, Mike Lowell and Jed Lowrie had the only hits on the night with Lowell knocking in the only run.

It’s now up to Clay Buchholz to salvage the series from the Rangers before the Red Sox head back to Boston for an offday on Thursday. Vincente Padilla will try to prevent that from happening as he starts for Ron Washington on Wednesday night.

John Smoltz started strong but faltered late as the Texas Rangers went on to a 6-3 win over the Boston Red Sox last night. Tonight, the Red Sox look to rebound at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington.

The game tonight will start at 8:05 PM EDT and will be televised in the Red Sox television market on NESN. If you live in the Rangers television market, you can catch the game on FOX Sports Southwest. And if the television isn’t your cup of tea, you can catch the game on one of the many affiliates of the Red Sox Radio Network.

Josh Beckett starts for Terry Francona tonight and he didn’t get to face the Rangers on their trip to Boston. Beckett is making his 19th start of the season and he is 11-3 with a 3.35 ERA. He’s made 4 career starts against the Rangers and is 2-1 with a 3.63 ERA. He’s had good success at Rangers Ballpark in Arlington as he is 2-0 with 0.75 ERA (1 ER/12 IP) in two starts.

Rookie Tommy Hunter gets the ball for Ron Washington tonight. In four starts this season, he is 1-1 with a 2.35 ERA. He has faced the Red Sox once in his career, back on August 14, 2008. In that start, he was rocked for 9 runs in just 1 2/3 innings to take the loss in a 10-0 win by the Red Sox.

In case you missed the news, the Red Sox placed Tim Wakefield on the disabled list and have recalled Clay Buchholz from Triple-A Pawtucket.

Wakefield to DL; Buchholz recalled [Extra Bases]

Scoring and the Sox [Extra Bases]

What’s the rush? [Tony Massarotti]

Updated: Wakefield discusses back injury [Projo Sox Blog]

With flu bug behind him, Papelbon ready for action [Projo Sox Blog]

Wakefield on DL with lower back strain; Buchholz replaces him in rotation [Clubhouse Insider]

Dustin Pedroia on Dale & Holley [Full Count]

Wakefield Injured, Buchholz to Get Start Wednesday in Texas [Heidi Watney – NESN.com]

Yankees Are the Team to Fear in Second Half [Don Orsillo – NESN.com]

No Need to Panic Over Smoltz’s Struggles … Yet [NESN.com]

Red Sox’s Buchholz: A showcase? [FOXSports.com]

Here are the lineups for tonight’s game:

And here is how the hitters have fared against tonight’s starting pitchers:

The Boston Red Sox have placed Tim Wakefield on the 15-day disabled list due to a lower back strain. The move was made retroactive to July 17th.

The Red Sox have recalled Clay Buchholz from Triple-A Pawtucket to take Wake’s spot on the roster. Buchholz will start the finale of the series tomorrow night in Texas.

Buchholz doesn’t have to wait 10 days to be recalled because he is replacing a player that was put on the disabled list.

Early on last night in Arlington, TX, it looked like John Smoltz was going to shutdown the Texas Rangers. Then they erupted for five runs in the 6th inning off of the 42-year-old Boston Red Sox pitcher on their way to a 6-3 win.

Last night’s outing for Smoltz was going to really tell us what the Red Sox needed to do at the trade deadline. And now it leaves us some big questions as what to do with Brad Penny and Smoltz.

Essentially right now the Red Sox have three starting pitchers that they can count on every five days in Josh Beckett, Jon Lester and Tim Wakefield. You can’t count on Daisuke Matsuzaka to be of any help this season. Then of course there is the Clay Buchholz factor.

Buchholz was solid in his only start of the season last weekend in Toronto for the Red Sox and that brought up questions of whether or not he should remain with the team for the season. After watching Smoltz last night and Penny struggle Saturday, I think it’s time for the Red Sox to move Clay back to the rotation and get rid of Penny.

Don’t get me wrong, Smoltz can still be very helpful to this team whether he remains as a starter or moves to the bullpen. On the other hand, I don’t think Penny would be very effective out of the bullpen for the Red Sox. Smoltz has that experience should the Red Sox decide to go that route. Plus Smoltz’ knowledge of the game and what he can bring to the younger pitchers is always useful.

So now we’ll wait to see what the Theo Epstein, Terry Francona and the rest of the Red Sox brain trust decides to do. But they can’t really wait too long as their rivals to the south are playing good baseball and could be in contention for some of the same players as the local nine at the trade deadline.

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