Photo Courtesy: Quinnipiac Athletics
By: Andrew Robinson
The Quinnipiac baseball team lost its third game in a row Tuesday evening, falling to the Bryant Bulldogs by a final score of 7-6. This game wasn’t only the Bobcats third straight loss, but it was also their fourth game in a row decided by only one run.
Despite the loss, the Bobcats still remain positive looking forward.
“I think everyone is all in. Every time we come into the huddle, our motto is all in, so I don’t see anybody not giving it their all,” sophomore first baseman Liam Scafariello said.
Bryant got on the board right off the bat in the first inning after a Nick Angelini sacrifice fly scored Cole Fabio. However Quinnipiac responded in the bottom half of the inning and tied the score at one. It was Scafariello who ripped a double, scoring Joseph Burns.
The Bulldogs plated the next two runs.
The first off of a pitch that got away from senior catcher Mathew Oestreicher in the second inning, and the second an RBI single to left center field by Jacob Marotta in the fifth.
The Bulldog defense would hold the Bobcats to only one run through the first four innings, however the fifth was a different story.
The Bobcats exploded for three runs in the inning, with an Oestreicher RBI single sparking the rally. Ben Gibson then laid down a sacrifice bunt, scoring Mathew Batten.
The last Bobcat run of the inning came after back-to-back walks with two outs.
Mason Palmieri struggled to find the strike zone and Derek Kasperzyk took advantage. The Bobcats freshman outfielder took ball four, allowing Scafariello to trot across home plate giving the Bobcats a 4-3 lead.
“You want to play competitive baseball for nine innings. We did that yesterday and we did that today,” head coach John Delaney said. “We showed fight late in the game against one of the better arms in New England. So we’ve been competitive late in the game, and I think we showed that this year.”
Quinnipiac carried a one-run lead into the eighth inning, where Bryant took back the momentum. The Bulldogs scored four times, including the eventual game-winning run.
The inning began when Bryan Hart roped a double to left field. A James Ciliento sacrifice bunt followed by a Fabio single scored Hart, and tied the game at four.
This was just the beginning of the scoring outburst.
Mickey Gasper blasted a three run home run later in the inning, ending the relief outing for Quinnipiac’s Mike DellaMadaglia. The junior pitcher suffered the loss in 3 1/3 innings pitched, allowing five earned runs.
The Bobcats mounted a rally in the final two innings in an attempt to climb back into the game. They scored one run in the bottom of the eighth inning and then another in the ninth, but it wasn’t enough.
Despite the loss, the Delaney thinks the Bobcats did show some promise.
“The one thing you can be positive about out of the last two games is that we played two of the best teams in New England and you played them competitively and you played them well.” Delaney said.
Quinnipiac returns to MAAC play this weekend when it begins a three game series with the Saint Peters’ Peacocks here in Hamden.
