STORRS, Conn. - The University of Connecticut baseball team had a total of five players selected in the 2013 Major League Baseball First-Year Player Draft.

* Departing senior second baseman L.J. Mazzilli (Greenwich, Conn.) was selected in the fourth round by the New York Mets as the 116th overall player taken and the tenth of the round. Mazzilli, who was selected by the Minnesota Twins in the ninth round of the 2012 MLB First-Year Player Draft, but chose to return for his senior season, was a 2013 second-team Louisville Slugger All-American. The Dick Howser Trophy semifinalist led Connecticut to its third NCAA Regional berth in the last four seasons by hitting a team-best .354 with 16 doubles, six homers, 51 RBIs and 50 runs while stealing 29 of 33 bases. The Huskies won the BIG EAST tournament and Mazzilli was a First-Team All-BIG EAST selection.

* Rising redshirt junior pitcher Carson Cross (Brentwood, N.H.) was selected in the 24th round by the Pittsburgh Pirates as the 719th overall player taken and the 13th of the round. Cross was a Second Team All-BIG EAST pick in 2012 and had a 9-4 record with a 2.44 ERA. He recorded 86 strikeouts this season in 110.2 innings of work and has walked just 24. Cross, who has the option of returning to the UConn team for 2014, pitched nine-plus innings and gave up just two runs in the Huskies’ 3-2 12-inning win over Louisville that started UConn’s run to the BIG EAST tournament title. He then picked up the win in UConn’s NCAA victory over Virginia Tech by pitching 6.1 innings and giving up just a run.

In addition, three incoming Husky freshman were drafted.

* Anthony Kay (Stony Brook, N.Y.) attended Ward Melville High School and is a left-handed pitcher who was selected by the New York Mets in the 29th round as the 866th overall pick. Kay pitched a no-hitter this season against Patchogue-Medford on March 28, 2013. He was 6-1 in his senior year with an 0.86 ERA. Kay helped lead Ward Melville to its first county championship game in school history and advanced to state semifinals.

* Thomas Milone (Monroe, Conn.) attended Masuk High School is an outfielder and was a third round pick of the Tampa Bay Rays as the 97th overall pick. Milone batted .471 in his senior season with a .700 slugging percentage and was named the Connecticut Gatorade High School Player of the Year. He was 28-for-29 in stolen base attempts. He had a high school career batting average of .399 with 58 career steals. Milone also enjoyed an outstanding high school football career as a receiver and returner.

* Taylor Olmstead (Greenwich, Conn.) attended Greenwich High School is a right fielder who was picked in the 13th round by the Texas Rangers as the 400th overall pick. Olmstead was an all-state and All-Fairfield Country Interscholastic Athletic Conference pick in both his junior and senior seasons. Olmstead was also a team captain for both the baseball and football team at Greenwich High School.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

PROVIDENCE, R.I. - FedExForum in Memphis, Tenn., one of the nation's premier basketball venues, will be the site of the 2014 American Athletic Conference Men's Basketball Championship, Commissioner Mike Aresco announced Tuesday.

"We are very excited to have the first American Athletic Conference championship at FedExForum," said Aresco.  "We received significant interest from many outstanding venues.  FedExForum is an outstanding facility and the Forum, the city of Memphis, the University of Memphis and the local community will combine to create a wonderful inaugural event that our teams, coaches, administrators and fans will embrace and enjoy."

The dates of the 2014 championship are March 12-15.  Each game of the 10-team tournament will be televised on the ESPN networks.  The championship game on Saturday, March 15, will be televised on ESPN.  The tournament will begin with two first-round games on Wednesday, March 12.  Two quarterfinal doubleheaders will be played on Thursday, March 13, followed by a semifinal doubleheader on Friday, March 14.  Game times will be announced at a later date.

FedExForum has a seating capacity of 18,400.  It is located off historic Beale Street and its vibrant and popular entertainment district.

FedExForum is the home to the University of Memphis men's basketball team and the NBA's Memphis Grizzlies.  The building also has hosted regional rounds of the NCAA Men's and Women's Basketball Championships.  After the American Athletic Championship, it will host the second and third rounds of the 2014 NCAA Championship in the South Regional. 

The first season of men's basketball under The American banner will include a very strong nucleus of teams, starting with Louisville, the 2013 national champion.  Memphis is coming off a 31-5 season, which included advancing to the third round of the NCAA Championship.  Temple also played in the third round of the NCAAs while compiling a 24-10 mark.  Cincinnati finished 22-12 while participating in its third straight NCAA tourney.  Connecticut, UCF and Houston all enjoyed 20-win seasons.

For 2013-14, the American Athletic Conference will include the University of Central Florida, University of Cincinnati, University of Connecticut, University of Houston, University of Louisville, University of Memphis, Rutgers University, University of South Florida, Southern Methodist University, and Temple University.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Daniel Nava's RBI single gave the Boston Red Sox the lead for good in the 14th inning as they went on to beat the Tampa Bay Rays 10-8 at Tropicana Field on Monday night.

For more slices of Red Sox goodness, head over to the Boston Globe, Boston Herald, CSN New England,  ESPN Boston, NESN, Providence Journal, RedSox.com and WEEI websites.

And if you must check out the enemy news, head over to the Tampa Times and Tampa Tribune websites.

Editor's note: I'm no longer allowed to use the MLB's source code to put in videos. So unless the MLB videos are actually embeddable, I won't be posting video anymore.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

photo credit: ap photo

NESN Boston Red Sox color analyst Jerry Remy has missed the past few weeks with allergies and pneumonia. It was thought he might be back soon but he will not be in the booth with Don Orsillo this week.

Instead, Nick Cafardo of the Boston Globe, Rob Bradford of WEEI.com and Dennis Eckersley will fill in for him while he continues to recover from his ailments.

6/10/13 at Tampa - Nick Cafardo
6/11 - 6/12/13 at Tampa - Rob Bradford
6/13-6/16/13 at Baltimore - Dennis Eckersley

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

In Major League Baseball there have always been great debates about star players from different teams.  Some that immediately come to mind from the past are Joe DiMaggio or Ted Williams? Carlton Fisk or Thurman Munson? Hank Aaron or Willie Mays? Randy Johnson or Roger Clemens?

In this modern era we are in the players are bigger and stronger.  There’s better nutrition, year round training, private instruction and so on.  But the debate, no matter the era will always rage on, especially when two rivals like the Red Sox and the Yankees have arguably the two best second basemen in all of baseball.

While listening to MLB Network Radio on SiriusXM one day the two hosts, Mike Ferrin and Jim Duquette, said they would take Robinson Cano as their All-Star/MVP with Dustin Pedroia being second.

Being a lifelong Red Sox fan, I may be biased but Pedroia is my guy.  Don’t get me wrong I’d take Cano too but if I had to pick it’s Pedey just as I would safely assume any Yankee fan would take Robbie.

Why do I take Pedroia?  Look at him.  He’s five foot nothing (he’s officially listed as 5’8”), was told time and time again he wouldn’t amount to a major league ball player and yet here he is.  Fox analyst Tim McCarver actually had a really good line about Pedroia a week or so ago.  He said, “he plays like he’s on a one-year contract.”

Pedroia is a throwback to an earlier time.  He is gritty, he’s always dirty, and he never, ever quits.  In fact he is hovering around .330 for a batting average and doing it with torn left thumb ligament.

When you compare the two side by side this year this is what you get:

So who is the All-Star and the MVP candidate now?

To continue reading, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

STORRS, Conn. - The American Athletic Conference has announced that the Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Conn., will host the inaugural Women’s Basketball Championship from March 7-10, 2014. 

“It is very exciting to all of us at UConn that the first American Athletic Conference women’s basketball tournament will be played in Connecticut,” said UConn Director of Athletics Warde Manuel. “Our state is the strongest market in the nation for the sport of women’s basketball and I know our loyal UConn fan base will support this event in great numbers. I also think that the other institutions of The American and their following will enjoy the experience at the Mohegan Sun Arena.

“The XL Center in Hartford has been an incredible host of the BIG EAST Women’s Basketball Tournament for the past nine years. The event became the most attended conference tournament in the country. UConn athletic events will continue to have a strong presence at the XL Center, including the debut of Hockey East games in 2014-15.”

The 2014 Women’s Basketball Championship will be held Friday, March 7 through Monday, March 10. All 10 teams in the league will participate in the championship, with seeding based on regular-season finishes. The top four seeds will receive byes to the quarterfinal round. The semifinals will be televised on ESPNU, while the championship will be on ESPN or ESPN2. First round and quarterfinal games will be televised, with specific coverage plans to be released.

“I am thrilled that The American and the Mohegan Sun Arena have entered into an agreement to host our women’s basketball championship,” said UConn women’s basketball coach Geno Auriemma. “The XL Center has served as a terrific place to hold a league championship since 2004 and continues to be an important partner for UConn.

“Mohegan Sun Arena also has a great reputation and an extensive track record of hosting first-class events. I know this venue will provide an enjoyable experience for the teams and fans alike during the 2014 American Championship."

Home to the WNBA’s Connecticut Sun, the 10,000-seat, state-of-the-art Mohegan Sun Arena opened in November of 2002. The Arena has hosted championship boxing, college and professional men’s and women’s basketball, Davis Cup tennis, professional bull riding and professional bowling. The WNBA All Star Game has been hosted by Mohegan Sun Arena three times, with a fourth time this July.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

After going 4-2 on the last homestand, the Boston Red Sox head out for a seven-game roadtrip. Tonight they'll kick it off with the first game of three-game set against the Tampa Bay Rays at Tropicana Field in St. Petersburg, FL.

First pitch is scheduled for 7:10 p.m. The game will be broadcast on NESN in the Red Sox television market. If you live in the Rays television market, you can catch the game on Sun Sports. If you don't live in either market you're in luck as ESPN will have coverage of the game (outside of Red Sox and Rays television markets). You can also catch the game online at WatchESPN where available. And if you can't catch the game on television, you can always listen on the 2013 Red Sox Radio Network.

John Lackey hits the rubber for the 10th time in 2013. In his previous nine starts, Lackey is 3-5 with a 2.79 ERA. He took the loss in his only start of 2013 against the Rays at the Trop after allowing five runs in 4.1 innings of work. He's made 20 career starts against the Rays and is 12-7 with a 4.30 ERA. Nine of those starts have come at the Trop where he is 4-5 with a 6.88 ERA.

Alex Cobb toes the slab for the 12th time in 2013. In his previous 11 starts, Cobb is 7-2 with a 2.39 ERA. He's made two starts against the Red Sox in 2013 and is 0-1 with a 2.77 ERA. He's made five career starts against the visiting nine and is 2-2 with a 2.79 ERA.

To see today's lineups, batter/pitcher matchups as well as the links from the local media, please click on the continue reading button below if you're on the home page.

June 10, 2013 – NESN, New England’s most watched sports network, will debut a new sports program called NESN Sports Today on Tuesday, June 11 immediately following the network’s Boston Red Sox coverage. Separately, there will be periodic specials, starting with Bruins coverage on Wednesday, June 12 (see below for more details).

“We want to give New England viewers a live, fast paced, nightly sports show that goes beyond opinions or scores with highlights,” said Joseph Maar, NESN’s vice president of programming & production, executive producer.

Over the past few months NESN has been developing a dynamic sports program that strives to be relevant, insightful and interactive for passionate fans using NESN’s unparalleled access to teams and unmatched resources.

“The new show gives fans everything they need to know in sports, plus interactive debates where viewers can weigh-in on the discussion,” added Maar. “NESN Sports Today will look and feel different from any other sports show in the country and allow mobile device users to participate in the program.”

Maar began the process of transforming NESN’s sports programming back in August when he joined the network. In November 2012, NESN added three new anchors/reporters by hiring Adam Pellerin, Leah Hextall and Jamie Erdahl to team with Jamison Coyle. They will be joined by an already popular and talented group of NESN announcers and hosts that includes Don Orsillo, Jack Edwards, Tom Caron and Dale Arnold, plus regular appearances by analysts Andy Brickley, Billy Jaffe, Jerry Remy, Dennis Eckersley, Jim Rice and Tim Wakefield.

NESN Sports Today, which replaces NESN Daily, will air every night in 30-minute blocks from 10 pm to 12 midnight (or immediately following Red Sox or Bruins post-game programming). NESN will broadcast a best of edition of the show the following morning between 4 am and 6 am and again between 12 noon and 2 pm.

NESN Sports Today Specials

The program’s format will adapt during nights of major sports stories, devoting expanded coverage for special days like Red Sox, Bruins, Celtics and Patriots playoff games. Beginning this Wednesday and before each Stanley Cup Championship game there will be a NESN Sports Today Bruins Pre-Game Special at 5:30 pm.

Follow Ian on Twitter @soxanddawgs. And be sure to like us on Facebook as well.

Destination Red Sox Nation is our look at how the minor league teams of the Boston Red Sox fare each night. Game story and box score links as well as links to team rosters, team stats and league standings can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Paw Prints is our daily look at the happenings for the UConn Huskies football, men's basketball and women's basketball teams as well as the other sports the student-athletes engage in. We will do our best to bring you the links from all of the media that covers the Huskies on a daily basis. As always, links can be found by clicking on the read more button below if you're on the home page.

Thank you for stopping by and making SOX & Dawgs your home for UConn Huskies news.