Video by: Sam Bousquett
Article by: Ryan Chichester
The Quinnipiac baseball team flirted with another Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference weekend sweep by taking game one of a Sunday doubleheader against Siena. But the Saints (7-25, 6-6 MAAC) grabbed game two in at the QU baseball field in Hamden with a 12-4 win to hand the Bobcats (16-19, 8-1 MAAC) their first conference loss of the season.
The loss marks the first in the loss column, but nothing more.
“We’re playing some good ball right now,” third baseman Evan Vulgamore said. “We lost one, but we’re not worried. We’re still 8-1 and first in the MAAC.”
Solid defense saved the Bobcats in a 5-2 game one victory, but a reverse narrative crippled them in game two, as errors and defensive miscues led to a brutal fifth inning.
“We made a couple mistakes and throwing errors in game three that hurt us a bit, but that’s not necessarily why we lost,” Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney said. “We had the bases loaded twice and didn’t produce.”
It was the Saints who struggled to produce in game one, as Quinnipiac starter Brandon Shileikis had to weave through a pair of jams in the middle innings, but his defense bailed him out.
The Saints started the top of the fourth with three straight singles, including a RBI base hit off the bat of junior Brian Kelly after an eight pitch at bat. Looking to break it open, Jordan Bishop launched a single to deep left field, but a quick relay from shortstop Ian Ostberg caught Siena’s Joe Drpich trying to score at the plate. Catcher Colton Bender quickly fired to second base to catch Kelly in a rundown between second and third, and complete the unorthodox double play. The Bobcats escaped after suffering just one run of damage.
“That was huge,” Shileikis said of the rally-killing double play. “I wasn’t expecting that. It was a big play in the game and I think it changed the momentum.”
After sophomore Andre Marrero was hit by a pitch to lead off the bottom of the fourth, Brian Moskey followed with a seeing-eye single, and both runners advanced on a double-steal. Vulgamore then cleared the bases with a line drive single up the middle to give the Bobcats the lead.
Like the Bobcats in the fourth, the Saints quickly erased the Bobcats’ lead on a run-scoring single from Matt Hamel. The Saints once again threatened for more, but Vulgamore showed off his defensive skills. The third baseman dove to his right robbing a hard grounder down the baseline off the bat of Marcos Campos , preventing an extra-base hit that was ticketed for the left field corner.
The Bobcats’ defense held the fort, while the Saints’ defense began to crumble.
Still tied in the bottom of the sixth, Liam Scafariello stroked a base hit through the second base hole that scooted under the glove of right fielder Zach Durfee to score two runs. Kelly then booted a Ben Gibson grounder at third to score Scafariello and give the Bobcats a cozy 5-2 lead, which Shileikis would not relinquish as the Bobcats sealed the series win.
“Any time you can take two of three from a team like (Siena), that’s huge.” Shiliekis said.
Both teams came out swinging in game two, combining to hit three solo home runs in the first inning, including one apiece from Marrero and Vulgamore.
But Quinnipiac’s game two starter Tyler Poulin struggled with his command, walking three straight in the fourth before a pair of sac flies tied the game at three. Poulin lasted just four innings, allowing three earned runs.
Siena continued to small-ball the Bobcats in the top of the fifth.
With Andrew Workman relieving Poulin, Bishop led off with a triple into the left field corner. Jonathan Crimmin followed with a bunt down the third base line that Anthony Cruz hustled down from behind the plate, but his throw to first was well beyond the reach of first-baseman Gibson. Crimmin advanced to third on the error and would score on a perfect suicide squeeze from the next batter Dufree, who also reached first beating Cruz’s throw to first.
And the Saints were nowhere near finished.
Drpich, tired of the small ball display, blew the game wide open with a mammoth three-run home run to dead center, his second of the game. When the smoke cleared, the Saints held a 9-3 lead and cruised the rest of the way.
Defensive miscues were at the forefront of the Bobcats’ fifth-inning implosion, but is not something the team will harp on.
“Usually, our defense is pretty good,” Vulgamore said. “We had some miscues, but that happens…the defense is nothing to worry about.”
Despite the loss, the Bobcats remain alone atop the MAAC standings. A mid-week non conference matchup against Bryant awaits Quinnipiac on Wednesday, followed by MAAC play next weekend on the road against Canisius.
