Nearly 23 years ago, Sam and Jake Benedict were born one minute apart by caesarean. They are fraternal twins, which by definition means they cannot be called mirror twins — i.e., features on opposite sides as if looking in a mirror.

But consider this: Sam, CNU's third baseman and number two hitter, is a natural right-hander. Jake, the Captains' leadoff man and center fielder, is a born lefty. Sam bats left and throws right; Jake bats right and throws left.

Just like twins looking in a mirror. But not, at least officially, mirror twins.

"An interesting fact is that Sam swings lefty but he golfs righty," said Jake, who like Sam is a senior. "It's the weirdest thing I've ever seen."

"How my dad explains it is that golf isn't meant for lefties," Sam said. "What I believe is that my dad didn't want to buy two sets of clubs when we were younger."

Their features are similar (brown hair, brown eyes) but not enough to confuse anyone. Sam is the extrovert who hates being inside, Jake the introvert who is more than happy to kill time playing video games.

"We have a transfer, (pitcher) Alex Shelkin, who just last week in the locker room said he had just found out we were related," Sam said. "Said he knew we had the same last name but didn't know we were related."

Sports, baseball in particular, is their common bond. They've played on the same team pretty much their whole lives. But there was a moment as teenagers when they were separated by 60 feet, 6 inches.

"One time I got a chance to pitch against him in a showcase we were doing," Jake said. "I struck him out on a 3-2 curveball. You can tell him I said that."

"I can't believe he remembers that," Sam laughed.

Together, the Benedicts have been instrumental in the Captains' 90-44 record since their freshman seasons in 2023.

Jake has been CNU's lead-off man since the start of his junior season, a run of 49 consecutive games. In that span, he is hitting .384 with an on base percentage of .456. He's scored 64 runs and stolen 20 bases.

Sam batted mostly in the bottom third of the lineup in his first two seasons before finding a home at No. 2 as a junior. In his last 40 games, he is hitting .292 with eight sacrifice bunts. A dependable glove at third base, he has a .952 fielding percentage.

"They're so consistent," CNU coach John Harvell said. "You always like to have good table setters and those two have been very good at it. Sam's the better situational guy, and that's why he's in the two hole. He's very good at moving runners over.

"Jake's been real comfortable leading off even though he probably would be a three or four hitter on anybody else's team. But having a guy like him at the top of the lineup with a pretty good chance to get on at the beginning of every game is a nice luxury to have."

The Benedicts also provide a team service.

"Having those two at the top of the lineup, they see a lot of pitches," Harvell said. "That also helps our other hitters to really get a feel for the pitcher at the beginning of the game."

The Benedicts have long been an athletic family. Their father, David, was a linebacker at Southern Utah. After graduating in 1995, he began his trek up the ladder in athletic administration.

Sam and Jake were born on July 28, 2002 in Scottsdale, Ariz. Sam checked in at 9:31 p.m.; Jake at 9:32. At the time, David was associate director of development at Arizona State.

After stops at Long Beach State, VCU, Minnesota and Auburn, he was hired as athletic director at Connecticut in 2016.

"Every time someone would hear how much we moved," Jake said, "they'd always say, 'military family?'"

But it's Lisa, David's wife and mother of Sam and Jake, who is the family's most accomplished athlete. At Arizona State, she was a two-time national champion and four-time All-American gymnast. She's in the ASU and Greater Buffalo (her hometown) Hall of Fame.

"She went in with Thurman Thomas," David said proudly, referring to the Bills' Pro Football Hall of Fame running back. "She's definitely the athlete in the family."

How Sam and Jake ended up here is a story in itself.

They were juniors at Glastonbury (Conn.) High when COVID-19 reared its ugly head, so they lost opportunities to be seen by recruiters. Adding to that, the NCAA granted an extra year of eligibility to college athletes. Well intentioned as it was, it had an effect on high school recruiting.

Although they didn't know it at the time, Sam and Jake had a connection. From 2011-14, Harvell had an infielder named Paul Keyes Jr. His father, Paul Sr., was the head baseball coach just up the road at VCU during those first two seasons.

At the time, David Benedict was an assistant AD with the Rams. Keys Sr. spoke highly about CNU's program to Benedict, who not long after taking the UConn job reached out to Harvell regarding his sons.

"I went up to Richmond for a tournament and watched them play," Harvell said. "I was sold then."

Crazy how things work out sometimes.

"If it wasn't for COVID, more than likely they would have wound up at different places because of the limited options," David Benedict said. "But ultimately, what drew them to CNU was that they had a tradition of success and it's a good school academically."

They came here knowing only each other, but each has their teammates as well as their own circle of friends. Sam, Mr. Social, lives with teammates in a house off campus. Jake stays on campus, where none of his roomies are teammates.

"We were fine going to the same school," Jake said, "but we've lived with each other enough."

Well …

In May, Sam and Jake are set to graduate with degrees in business management. Next will come grad school, where both will pursue their Master's in sports management at UConn. Free rent at the family home in Manchester, some 20 miles from Storrs.

Under the same roof again.