O'Connor named NEC Co-Coach of the Year

O’Connor named NEC Co-Coach of the Year

By Brian Farrell, QBSN Staff Writer

Quinnipiac women’s golf is making an impression in the Northeast Conference. On Wednesday, head coach John O’Connor was named the Northeast Conference Co-Coach of the Year.

 “It’s always special when people, especially other coaches notice the effort that you put into your work,” O’Connor said.

The effort is clearly there as the Bobcats improved in their second full season. Improvement is the name of the game for Quinnipiac women’s golf and all that improvement starts with O’Connor.

“This has been a remarkable year for the golf team,” O’Connor said.  “Everyone on the team worked extremely hard.”

O’Connor made it clear that his success this year is thanks not only to his golfers putting up better scores, but also for his family for putting up with a dedicated coach.

“My wife understands my passion for coaching and knows how important this is to me,” O’Connor said. “… She finds a way through all the time away from my family and time at practice, and without her support, this would be an impossible task.”

O’Connor’s love for the game is apparent, so it should come as no surprise that he works as hard as he does both on and off the course.

O’Connor has been described by his golfers as a positive and active coach. In fact, O’Connor never uses a golf cart during tournaments and instead takes every step that his golfers take.

“When we go to tournaments, other girls can’t believe that he walks the courses with us,” junior Kayla Ketcheson said proudly.

Last season, O’Connor’s squad struggled, and while the team didn’t find themselves at the top of the standings, the Bobcats are on their way.

At the NEC Championships, Quinnipiac finished ninth after three consistent days. The championships featured O’Connor’s first recruit, Hannah Russell. Russell was second on the team at the championships and will be a key for the Bobcats next season.

Next season will also feature the O’Connor’s first real recruiting class. With a pair of seniors graduating, O’Connor will look to newcomers Krissy Unger and Jenn Whaley to fill the shoes left by Amanda Nagel and Nicole Ferretti.

Bobcats split with Red Flash, look to NEC Tournament

Bobcats split with Red Flash, look to NEC Tournament

By Kevin Noonan, QBSN Staff Writer

Senior Heather Schwartzburg (Mission Viejo, Calif.) ended her regular season career at Quinnipiac University the way she ended the at bats for 956 other batters: with a strikeout.

As Quinnipiac heads into the Northeast Conference tournament, Schwartzburg is only 43 strikeouts short of 1,000 for her career.

She dominated the St. Francis Red Flash (22-26, 9-11 NEC) in the second game of the doubleheader to close the season with a 4-0 victory.  The Bobcats (30-16, 13-7 NEC) lost the first game of the afternoon 3-0 at the hands of Brooke Koch (10-5).  St. Francis started with a strong first inning and never looked back.

Senior Mina Duffy (Piedmont, Calif.) started the game for Quinnipiac and only lasted .1 innings, giving up three runs on two hits with one walk and one strikeout.

Taylor Darnielle singled to deep right field and scored Paige Smith from first base for the first run of the game.  The next batter, Taylor Parsons, stepped up to bat and clubbed her fifth home run of the year, one of three extra base hits on the afternoon to give the Red Flash a 3-0 lead.

Sophomore Katie Alfiere (Beacon Falls, Conn.) came in for the Bobcats and shut down the opponent’s offense for the final 6.2 innings of the game.

Quinnipiac did outhit St. Francis 8-7, but were unable to make a serious threat until the bottom of the seventh. 

Senior Ashley Heiberger (Sioux Falls, S.D.) doubled and junior Bridget Figmic (Stratford, Conn.) singled to put runners on the corners.  Heiberger was then thrown out at home on a suicide squeeze play and junior Jacquie Ristow (Seal Beach, Calif.) grounded out to end the game.

Senior Christy Cabrera (West Sacramento, Calif.) went 2-for-4 in the game with a single and double for the Bobcats.

The second game saw the Bobcats jumped out to an early similar to the fashion of the Red Flash earlier in the afternoon.

Cabrera lead off with a single, subsequently stealing second base and scoring on the two-run home run off the bat of junior Alex Alba (Sylmar, Calif.) for her seventh of the season.

Schwartzburg (18-5) dominated the Red Flash, throwing a two-hitter for the Bobcats while striking out 12 batters on the afternoon.

Quinnipiac added two more runs when Heiberger hit a ground ball to St. Francis first baseman Kaitlin Andler, who made an error, allowing Duffy and freshman Nikki Barba (San Diego, Calif.) to play.

Cabrera, Duffy, and Barba each finished with two hits in the second game of the doubleheader.

The Red Flash threatened to score in the top of the seventh when Taylor Parsons walked for the second time in the game and Andler came inches away from hitting a home run with the ball bouncing off the top of the fence back to Cabrera in center field.  Andler reached second for a double, and Parsons was held at third base. 

Schwartzburg then retired the next hitters, striking out Courtney Francis to end the game.

With the win, Quinnipiac propelled itself into a second place tie with LIU-Brooklyn in the NEC, meaning it will be the home team when battling the Blackbirds in Moon Township, Penn. for the NEC Tournament starting May 11.

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Athlete of the Week: Vincent Guglietti

Athlete of the Week: Vincent Guglietti

By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Publishing Editor

Numbers are the bread and butter of baseball, so when a freshman converts the basics into a week of jaw-dropping figures in nearly every offensive category the sport has to offer, it does not go unrecognized.  Vincent Guglietti (East Haven, Conn.) highlighted what has been a solid start to his Bobcat career with a remarkable week that also earned him the honor of NEC Co-Rookie of the Week.

In the four-game series against Sacred Heart, Guglietti compiled eight hits, including three for extra bases in addition to three runs batted in and three runs scored.  While the Bobcats dropped the first three games of the series, the fourth game saw a 9-8 victory in which Guglietti went 4-for-5.  He drove in Zak Palmer (Mahwah, N.J.) on an RBI triple that was part of a five-run ninth inning. 

Guglietti’s hot-streak not only turned the final game around for Quinnipiac but boosted his week’s batting average to a team-leading .562 and slugging to .750.  These averages sit alongside his .632 on-base percentage in the same time frame.

In his first year, Guglietti leads the team with 21 RBI and ranks third in hits with 42 behind Kyle Nisson (Wallingford, Conn.) and Palmer. 

The Bobcat Bulletin, Issue 2

Open publication - Free publishing - More athletics

Softball downs Stony Brook with strong pitching

Softball downs Stony Brook with strong pitching

By Angelique Fiske, QBSN Publishing Editor

Even though the rain cut the softball team’s doubleheader against Stony Brook (31-14-1) in half, the weather didn’t stop the Bobcats (29-15) from pulling away with 4-0 victory over the Seawolves.  Despite the score, the game showcased the two opposing pitchers’ dominance and proved that one rough inning can change the course of any outing. 

courtesy: quinnipiacbobcats.com

All of the runs came across the plate in the bottom of the second inning.  Sophomore pitcher Katie Alfiere (Beacon Falls, Conn.) helped out her own cause, driving in the game’s first run.  Her RBI single to left centerfield drove home Mina Duffy (Piedmont, Calif.) for her fifth run batted in this year.  After Bridget Figmic (Stratford, Conn.) reached on a single, senior catcher Ashley Heiberger nailed a home run to left centerfield for third long-ball of the season. 

Outside of being shaken up in the second inning, Stony Brook pitcher Christine Lucido threw a flawless game.  The only five hits she allowed were a product the second frame.  Lucido sent every other Bobcat back to the bench the order in which they came, collecting five strikeouts along the way.

Despite Lucido’s remarkable effort, her team’s offense could not break Alfiere.  Only one Seawolf reached third base in the game, but Alfiere struck out Jess Combs to end the bases loaded threat.  Alfiere went the distance, allowing four hits, giving up two walks and striking out three.  With the win, her record improves to 7-2 on the year.

“To come out and shut them out like that is a tremendous performance, and Katie deserves a lot of credit for that,” head coach Germaine Fairchild said.

While Fairchild praised Alfiere’s performance, the pitcher acknowledged the importance of the win for the team as it prepares for the postseason.

“It’s a huge confidence booster,” Alfiere said.  “We’re all hitting really well.  We’re all working together really well, and it’s just good to know we can shut down a team that’s really good in their conference.”

Quinnipiac finishes its regular season in a weekend series against St. Francis (Pa.) staring May 5.  This last conference test before the playoffs is one that Fairchild welcomes as a chance to keep her team hot in all aspects of its game.

“We’re still in a phase where we’re getting better every game,” Fairchild said.  “Every opportunity we have to play, we’re going to get a little bit better at something.”

This will only aid the Bobcats as they round out the rest of their regular season and fix their sights beyond it.