June 9, 1972: Underdog UConn shocks Texas in College World Series opening round

The University of Texas Longhorns arrived at the 1972 College World Series in Omaha, Nebraska, as an established force in college baseball with a chance to win the tournament. In contrast, the University of Connecticut Huskies’ arrival for their first Series berth since 1965 went largely unnoticed.1

But anything can happen in a single game. When Texas and UConn met on June 9 in the first game of the Series for both teams, the result was an epic David-and-Goliath matchup with an unexpected ending. After nine innings of shutout ball, the Huskies pushed across three runs in the 10th and held on for a 3-0 victory.

Cliff Gustafson, a former Longhorn infielder in his fifth season as Texas’s coach, brought his team into the tournament with an overall record of 48-7.2 The ’Horns tied with Texas Christian University for first place in the Southwest Conference. They qualified for NCAA tournament play by beating TCU two out of three times during the season.3

Texas boasted three holdovers from its 1970 College World Series third-place team: third baseman Dave Chalk, pitcher and first baseman John Langerhans,4 and second baseman Mike Markl. Chalk, who hit .370 in 1972, and sophomore catcher-outfielder Bill Berryhill, who hit .385, earned All-America honors. It was Chalk’s third straight season as an All-American.5 That same month, he was the California Angels’ first-round pick in the amateur draft, and he reached the majors in September 1973.

The Longhorns had a formidable force on the mound, too, in junior right-hander Ron Roznovsky.6 Roznovsky posted an 11-3 record and a 1.24 ERA, whiffing 92 batters in 94 innings with a powerful slider.7

In the other dugout, the Huskies compiled a 19-5 record8 under Larry Panciera, their coach since 1962.9 They’d beaten Harvard University on their home turf at Storrs, Connecticut, to claim one of eight regional berths in the College Series.10

Leading players included third baseman John Ihlenburg, who hit .355; outfielder Brad Linden, at .346; and outfielder-first baseman John Slosar, at .314.11 Slosar and ace reliever Augie Garbatini (eight saves, 1.27 ERA) were chosen by the New York Mets in the high rounds of the June 1972 amateur draft, and both signed about a week after the game.12

Panciera originally tapped junior left-hander Brian Herosian to start against Texas. But earlier that week, the Huskies played an exhibition against the Falmouth, Massachusetts, team of the Cape Cod Baseball League, and lefty Jim Jachym – who’d struggled to rebound from a knee injury – impressed Panciera. “His fastball was really moving and he looked like he did before he was injured back in April,” the coach said. Jachym started on the mound, while Herosian moved to first base.13 Panciera wasn’t the only person to see potential in Jachym, who’d been drafted by three major-league teams.14 The coaches went in essentially blind, with Gustafson and Panciera saying they knew nothing about their opponent except for a few star players.15

UConn didn’t have the name recognition of other teams – one Omaha TV broadcaster kept calling them “Cincinnati”16 – but a home-state scribe predicted that the Huskies could succeed. Bill Newell of the Hartford Courant noted that the team had lost its first four games, then won 19 of its next 20, including three extra-inning matchups and four out of five one-run decisions. “This Huskie [sic] team has known and lived with pressure and has patiently worked its way over virtually every obstacle put in its path,” Newell wrote. He also noted the team’s depth: “No one batter carries the attack, and no one pitcher has done all the work.”17

The Huskies had to wait for their chance to prove Newell right. The game at Rosenblatt Stadium started more than an hour late due to the length of opening ceremonies, as well as a long first game between the University of Southern California and the University of Mississippi.18 About 5,900 fans were present.19

UConn blew an opportunity to take a lead in the top of the first. With two out, center fielder Linden and right fielder Slosar singled. Left fielder Keith Kraham grounded to second baseman Markl, who misplayed the ball for an error.20 But Linden rounded third base too far, and Markl threw to third to retire him.

UConn’s bats then fell asleep. Roznovsky allowed only one hit from the second inning through the ninth – a single by Slosar in the sixth – and no Connecticut runner got to second base during that time.21

The Longhorns mounted several early threats. In the second, Langerhans singled on an infield roller22 and Berryhill walked. Jachym’s wild pitch put runners on second and third with none out. Texas failed to capitalize, as Jachym recorded a strikeout, an out at home on a grounder, and a shallow fly to right. On the grounder, plate umpire Harry Schrieber23 called Langerhans safe at home, but when Panciera and catcher Ray Brickley protested, Schrieber sought a second opinion from first-base ump Al Forman.24 Forman called Langerhans out, a decision that might have saved the game for the Huskies.25

Jachym handed the Longhorns additional opportunities in the third, walking two and throwing two wild pitches. Shortstop Harry Trohalis bailed him out with a good play on a slow infield hopper for the final out.

Roznovsky and Jachym matched zeros inning after inning, becoming “virtually invincible,” according to the Austin American-Statesman.26 Gusty winds of 28 to 30 miles per hour helped squash a potential Longhorns rally in the eighth. After a walk, Markl drilled a ball 370 feet to left-center field, where Kraham reeled it in near the fence. Panciera later quipped that the Huskies were lucky the wind was blowing.27

Through nine, Roznovsky had yielded three hits. When Langerhans led off the Longhorns’ ninth with a solid single – just Texas’s second hit off Jachym – Panciera summoned Garbatini from the UConn bullpen. Garbatini induced a double play off Berryhill’s bat, then got left fielder Terry Pyka to fly out. (The University of Texas student paper later joked that the Longhorns’ bats had gone “deader than Richard Nixon’s sense of humor.”28)

David and Goliath headed to the 10th. Roznovsky, still on the mound, struck out Trohalis for his 10th and final strikeout of the game. Brickley walked on four pitches and Garbatini, who’d gone hitless in 18 at-bats during the season, hit a solid single between shortstop and third base. Another walk to second baseman Charles Horan – Roznovsky’s sixth – loaded the bases.

That brought up Ihlenburg, hitless in four at-bats and suffering from a severe case of poison ivy on both ankles.29 It was 11:40 P.M. and about half the fans were still present when Roznovsky threw a high fastball to Ihlenburg. The third baseman pounded it 400 feet, over the head of center fielder Ken Pape, for a triple that gave UConn a sudden 3-0 lead.30 Reliever Jimmy Brown replaced Roznovsky and wrapped up the inning with two grounders.

A game this tight called for a nail-biting finish, and the Longhorns supplied one in the bottom of the 10th. Garbatini struck out the first batter, walked right fielder Tom Ball, struck out a pinch-hitter, then surrendered a single to shortstop Amador Tijerina. Markl worked another walk, setting up a bases-loaded, two-out situation with All-American Chalk at the plate. Chalk hit the ball hard to left, but Kraham pulled in his line drive with room to spare, and the Huskies completed the win in 2 hours and 42 minutes. Garbatini earned the win, while Roznovsky took the loss.

Gustafson admitted he’d stayed too long with his starter: “I had talked with him after he walked Horan and he said he thought he could finish the inning. You hate to pull a pitcher who had been going as well as Ron had.”31 As the Huskies prepared for their next game, they drew pleasure from the thought that the baseball world – including the errant Omaha broadcaster – now recognized them. “At least they know who we are now,” Kraham said.32

The College World Series is a double-elimination tournament, so the opening loss did not end the Longhorns’ hopes. Texas rebounded with wins over Mississippi and the University of Oklahoma before eventual champion Southern California knocked them out in the semifinals. The Longhorns finished in a tie for third.33 They returned to the tournament in each of the next three seasons and won it in 1975. As of 2025, the Longhorns have also won it all in 1983, 2002, and 2005.34

UConn lost its next two games, to Southern California and Temple University. As of 2025, the triumph over Texas remained the most recent College World Series victory in program history. The Huskies had returned to the Series only once, in 1979, losing both their games.35 The 1979 team was Panciera’s last at Connecticut.36

Jachym pitched a single pro season at Rookie level in the Houston Astros’ organization before suffering a career-ending knee injury,37 while Roznovsky pitched four seasons in the Astros’ chain, topping out at Triple A.

After pro baseball, both pitchers returned to their hometowns and wrote very different success stories. Jachym taught and coached in Westfield, Massachusetts, for 35 years. His teams won two Western Massachusetts high-school baseball championships, and he was inducted into the Western Massachusetts Baseball Hall of Fame alongside such notables as Candy Cummings, Mark Belanger, and Justine Siegal.38 

Roznovsky’s father and brother had become successful in the Houston area selling hamburgers, and Roznovsky and his wife took over the family’s locally beloved burger business. When Roznovsky died in February 2015, one food writer remembered his “warm, welcoming presence,” while another noted the Longhorn-themed decor of his restaurant.39

Acknowledgments

This story was fact-checked by Kevin Larkin and copy-edited by Len Levin.

Sources and photo credit

In addition to the specific sources cited in the Notes, the author consulted Baseball-Reference.com and Retrosheet.org for general player, team, and season data.

Neither Baseball-Reference nor Retrosheet provides box scores of college games, but the June 10, 1972, editions of the Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald and Hartford (Connecticut) Courant published box scores.

Image of 1975 Hostess card #46 downloaded from the Trading Card Database.

Notes

1 Associated Press, “Arizona St. Favored Again as College WS Begins Play,” Bridgeport (Connecticut) Telegram, June 9, 1972: 27; Bill Newell, “Determined UConn Nine Ready for Nation’s Best,” Hartford (Connecticut) Courant, June 9, 1972: 53; 2025 University of Connecticut baseball media guide, accessed December 2025: 29, https://uconnhuskies.com/documents/2025/5/14/2025_Media_Guide.pdf.

2 2025 University of Texas baseball media guide, accessed December 2025: 55, https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2025/2/12/2025_Texas_Baseball_Media_Guide_Web.pdf; George Breazeale, “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid,” Austin (Texas) Statesman, June 9, 1972: 37.

3 2025 University of Texas baseball media guide: 118.

4 Langerhans played high-school baseball for Gustafson at South San Antonio High School before both moved on to the University of Texas and later became a state champion high-school coach himself. His son, Ryan Langerhans, played 11 seasons in the majors between 2002 and 2013. David Flores, “South San Baseball’s Dynastic Run Still Resonates Today,” KENS5.com (website affiliated with TV station KENS-5), posted June 8, 2015: https://www.kens5.com/article/opinion/contributors/david-flores/south-san-baseballs-dynastic-run-still-resonates-today/273-153799158.

5 Breazeale, “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid.”; 2025 University of Texas baseball media guide: 161. Chalk was a third-team All-American in 1970 and a first-team All-American in 1971 and 1972.

6 Genealogical records accessed via FamilySearch.org in December 2025 indicate that Ron Roznovsky and 1960s major-league catcher Vic Roznovsky were not siblings. Both were native Texans, however, and they may have been more distantly related: Vic Roznovsky’s SABR biography indicates that their last name is common in an area of South Texas heavily settled by people of Czech descent. Dan Taylor, “Vic Roznovsky,” SABR Biography Project, accessed December 2025, https://sabr.org/bioproj/person/vic-roznovsky/.

7 Breazeale, “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid.”

8 The cold and unpredictable spring weather in New England made it impossible for teams in that region to play as many games as schools in warmer locales. As Panciera put it pungently: “The damn weather’s against us.” Jerry Radding, “A College Baseball Dilemma,” Springfield (Massachusetts) Union, June 27, 1972: 28.

9 Breazeale, “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid”; 2025 University of Connecticut baseball media guide: 28.

10 Associated Press, “Harvard Beaten,” (Phoenix) Arizona Republic, May 30, 1972: 54.

11 Breazeale, “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid.” UConn outfielder Ed Harvey, who didn’t play on June 9, is the father of Matt Harvey, who pitched nine seasons in the majors between 2012 and 2021. Teddy Metrosilis, “For Harvey, Pitching Is the Easy Part,” ESPN.com, posted March 29, 2013, https://www.espn.com/new-york/mlb/story/_/id/9113133/new-york-mets-matt-harvey-edge-driven-big-leagues.

12 “Garbatini, Slosar Signed by Mets,” Hartford Courant, June 16, 1972: 50. Breazeale, in “’Horns Opening CWS Title Bid,” gives a slightly higher but still impressive ERA of 1.43 for Garbatini. Garbatini, drafted in the 32nd round, pitched two professional seasons, peaking at Class A. Slosar, drafted in the 37th round, played a single pro season at Rookie level.

13 Newell, “Determined UConn Nine Ready for Nation’s Best.”

14 The Oakland Athletics drafted Jachym in the 27th round of the June 1968 amateur draft out of high school in Westfield, Massachusetts. The St. Louis Cardinals drafted him in the fourth round of the secondary phase of the June 1971 draft. And the Angels took him in the fifth round of the secondary phase of the January 1972 amateur draft. (In a different world, Jachym and Texas’s Dave Chalk might have climbed the Angels’ organizational ladder together.)

15 Dan Couture, “Longhorns Oppose Connecticut,” The Summer Texan (Austin, Texas), June 9, 1972: 7. The Summer Texan was the summer version of the University of Texas at Austin’s student newspaper, known during the school year as the Daily Texan.

16 Bill Newell, “Squawk by Panciera Instrumental in UConn’s 3-0 Victory Over Texas,” Hartford Courant, June 11, 1972: 2C.

17 Bill Newell, “Grist from the Sports Mill,” Hartford Courant, June 9, 1972: 53.

18 Southern California beat Mississippi, 8-6, in a nine-inning game that took 2 hours and 54 minutes to play, according to a box score in the Omaha World-Herald, June 10, 1972: 15.

19 Bill Newell, “Ihlenburg’s Triple Gives UConn 3-0 Win,” Hartford Courant, June 10, 1972: 25.

20 Newell, in “Ihlenburg’s Triple Gives UConn 3-0 Win,” identifies the batter who hit the grounder as left fielder Kraham. But the box score accompanying Newell’s story lists first baseman Brian Herosian, not Kraham, as the next batter following Slosar. The Omaha (Nebraska) World-Herald’s box score lists Kraham as hitting after Slosar, so this story sides with Kraham as the next batter. (The Austin American-Statesman’s game story did not mention this play, and the paper ran only a line score, not a box score.)

21 Unless otherwise noted, all game action is based on George Breazeale, “Texas Falls 3-0 Faces Ole Miss,” Austin American-Statesman, June 10, 1972: 33, and Newell, “Ihlenburg’s Triple Gives UConn 3-0 Win.” Newell’s story provided more play-by-play detail than those of other journalists for most of the game.

22 Infield roller mentioned in Robert Williams, “Huskies Win in 10th; USC Snares Opener,” Omaha World-Herald, June 10, 1972: 15.

23 According to his Sporting News umpire card (https://retrosheet.org/TSNUmpireCards/Schrieber-Harry.jpg), Schrieber was working in the Triple-A Pacific Coast League in 1972. He never made the majors.

24 Forman had worked in the National League from 1961 to 1965. He returned to the big leagues as a temporary umpire during strikes by unionized umps in 1978 and 1979.

25 Newell, “Squawk by Panciera Instrumental in UConn’s 3-0 Victory Over Texas.”

26 Breazeale, “Texas Falls 3-0 Faces Ole Miss.”

27 Wind speeds from Newell, “Ihlenburg’s Triple Gives UConn 3-0 Win”; fly ball description from Newell and Williams, “Huskies Win in 10th; USC Snares Opener.”

28 Dan Couture, “Longhorns Eliminate Sooners,” The Summer Texan (Austin, Texas), June 13, 1972: 7.

29 Newell, “Determined UConn Nine Ready for Nation’s Best.”

30 Time and crowd size from Williams, “Huskies Win in 10th; USC Snares Opener”; high fastball from Breazeale, “Texas Falls 3-0 Faces Ole Miss.”

31 Williams, “Huskies Win in 10th; USC Snares Opener.”

32 Newell, “Squawk by Panciera Instrumental in UConn’s 3-0 Victory Over Texas.”

33 Southern California beat Arizona State University in the 1972 final to win its third straight College World Series and eighth title in school history. Robert Williams, “USC Captures Eighth Crown,” Omaha World-Herald, June 17, 1972: 19.

34 2025 University of Texas baseball media guide, accessed December 2025: 128, https://texaslonghorns.com/documents/2025/2/12/2025_Texas_Baseball_Media_Guide_Web.pdf.

35 2025 University of Connecticut baseball media guide: 29.

36 2025 University of Connecticut baseball media guide: 28.

37 Garry Brown, “Jim Jachym Honored as Pitcher and Teacher/Coach,” MassLive.com, posted January 25, 2019: https://www.masslive.com/sports/2019/01/jim_jachym_honored_for_his_sta.html.

38 Brown, “Jim Jachym Honored as Pitcher and Teacher/Coach.”

39 Jakeisha Wilmore, “Ronald Roznovsky, Owner of Roznovsky Hamburgers, Has Died,” Eater Houston, posted February 10, 2015, https://houston.eater.com/2015/2/10/8013589/ronald-roznovsky-owner-of-of-roznovsky-hamburgers-has-died; Katharine Shilcutt, “Ron Roznovsky, Beloved Purveyor of Burgers, Passes Away,” Houstonia, posted February 10, 2015, https://www.houstoniamag.com/eat-and-drink/2015/02/rip-ron-roznovksy-february-2015.