Softball falls to LIU in Rain-Covered Double-Header

By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Staff Writer

The Quinnipiac Bobcats dropped both games of their double header against the Northeast Conference foe Long Island Blackbirds in a rainy and windy contest on April 16.  While the first loss was a close one, losing 1-0, the second game boasted the Long Island offense as they opened it up 11-6. 

The losses put the Bobcats in fifth place in the NEC standings with an overall record of 22-18 and 6-4 within the conference.  The Blackbirds are tied for sixth place with Monmouth with an overall record of 13-27 and breaking even at 4-4 within the NEC. 

            Junior pitcher Heather Schwartzburg began the day for Quinnipiac, only running into trouble in the third inning.  With two outs in the inning Long Island loaded the bases on two hits and a walk.  Amanda MacIntosh reached on an error, bringing Sterling Hoham across the plate for the game’s only run.  Schwartzburg was given her eighth loss of the season, while Long Island’s Sarah Reynolds earned her seventh win of the year.  Both girls pitched complete games, only giving up three hits apiece. 

             The second game allowed for far more scoring on both ends.  The Blackbirds wasted no time, putting up four runs in the top of the first off of a Bianca Mejia two-run blast followed by two unearned runs.  The Bobcats responded quickly in the bottom half of the first with a three-run homer off the bat of Jordan Paolucci, driving in Alex Alba and Christy Cabrera. 

            The Bobcats scored two more runs in the second and fourth innings with Jacqueline Ristow driving in one with a single through the right side and Lauren Salgado scoring on an error.  These runs gave a 5-4 lead, the first and only of the day. 

This lead, however, did not even last through the fifth inning.  Remaining quiet since the first inning, the Blackbird offense came to life, scoring at least two runs in the fifth, sixth, and seventh innings all while holding the Bobcats to just one run coming in the form of a Mina Duffy homerun in the seventh. 

Schwartzburg was granted her second loss of the day and Long Island’s Megan Sheaf walked away with her fourth win of the season.

Bearing in mind that Schwartzburg was credited with both of the losses, Coach Germaine Fairchild noted that every game is not a one player effort.

“The offense has to pick to pitcher up, the pitcher has to pick the defense up, and the defense has to pick the pitcher up. Everyone has to work together,” she said.

            Even though the domino effect was not set up in place in the favor of the Bobcats, the influence of the weather cannot be ignored.

            “It wasn’t a great conditions day for pitchers or hitters,” said Coach Fairchild.  “You can’t walk around blaming the weather.  You have to buck up, and when it’s time to play, you have to play.”

            As always, the Bobcats are prepared to improve on their previous performance, keeping the NEC standings in the back of their minds. 

            “It’s going to be a dog-fight to the end,” said Coach Fairchild.  “Any team you don’t have a tie break on could come back to bite you.”

            The Bobcats take on Central Connecticut State in a conference double header on April 17 and then Hartford on April 20.

QU falls in final game of four-game series

By Brian Farrell

The Quinnipiac baseball team lost Sunday afternoon 8-4 to Monmouth in the final game of a four-game series between the two teams. While the result was not what the Bobcats were looking for it was still a special day as it was Katie Vashon Day at the ballpark.

Katie passed away in 2005 after a fight with leukemia and was a member of the Sports Information Department and a member of Phi Sigma Sigma at QU. The sorority hosted a barbeque to raise money for Camp Sunshine in Casco, Maine.  The program allows families with children who are suffering from a chronic illness to join their family for one week at the camp.

With a great crowd on hand and both teams inspired to play a great game, Monmouth jumped out to a quick three-run lead. After a leadoff walk and an error to put two runners on, Monmouth’s Danny Avella put one over the fence in center field for the early 3-0 lead.

“So far this season when we are able to score in the first we do a good job of keeping it going for the rest of the game and we were able to do that again today,” Avella said.

The Bobcats answered back in bottom half of the inning picking up one run. Mickey Amanti led off the inning with a single extending his hit streak to 16 games. He would eventually score off of an RBI single from Chris Migani.

QU pitching would settle down as Anthony Cinelli was able to control his pitches following his first inning issues. Cinelli threw three straight scoreless innings before getting into more trouble in the fifth. Monmouth would tag him for four more runs to extend their lead to 7-1.

Quinnipiac again tried to answer right back in the bottom of the sixth. Following a pair of singles and a walk, the Bobcats were on the cusp of clawing their way back into the game. After two wild pitches and a missed double-play opportunity, Quinnipiac had cut the lead to 7-4.

“We were doing a good job with pitch selection,” said QU coach Dan Gooley. “If we could have gotten one more hit or run we could have scored 15 or 20 more runs. Both teams were getting tired and it was like watching a late round bout between to heavyweights with both guys throwing huge punches.”

Monmouth would score one more run to add to the insurance and shut down the Bobcats in the final three innings, not allowing a Quinnipiac baserunner..

With the win, Monmouth moves into sole possession of first place in the NEC.

“It’s a long haul with a 32 game season and right now we know that every weekend is going to be a battle,” said Monmouth head coach Dean Ehehalt.  

The Bobcats will be back at it on Tuesday for a non-conference game at the University of Rhode Island. The first pitch is scheduled for 3:00.