The magical and record breaking season that was the 2019 one has come to an end for the Quinnipiac Bobcats as they drop the final two games of the season, losing 9-8 to Campbell and 13-3 to No. 10 East Carolina.

As the Bobcats looked to feed off the momentum they gained from their upset victory over host East Carolina Saturday night, they needed another pitching performance like the one Chris Enns and Colin Donnelly brought. The Fighting Camels and Bobcats play a very similar game, according to Campbell’s head coach Justin Haire – they both look to play a scrappy offense that looks to generate runs using small ball and speed.

Tyler Anshaw got Campbell’s offense started early as he welcomed Quinnipiac started Tyler Poulin with a ringing double into the right center field gap. A wild pitch got Anshaw to third and immediately the Fighting Camels were in business. Luis Gimenez drilled a hard ground ball off the back side of Tyler Poulin, negating any shot of a play at home. Much like how the Bobcats were able to score their opening run against East Carolina on Saturday night, Campbell was able to manufacture an early run to gain momentum.

This momentum, however, was quickly erased just two innings later as Quinnipiac’s big guns came to play with the bats. Brian Moskey, Andre Marrero and Evan Vulgamore all tallied an RBI in the 3^rd to give the Bobcats a 3-1 lead.

Much like the Bobcats, the Fighting Camels did not let their opponent enjoy the lead for very long as in the next half inning, Campbell scored three unearned runs thanks to a throwing error charged to Bobcats pitcher Tyler Poulin sparked an offensive surge. The three runs Quinnipiac scored in the top of the third were matched in the bottom of the third.

After both teams traded leads in the middle innings, Tyler Poulin was pulled from the game after 5 innings, giving up 6 hits, 6 runs, 3 earned, 2 strikeouts and 3 walks. This opened the door for Colin Donnelly to shine in the spotlight again. However, after a Brian Moskey single in the 8^th plated Liam Scafariello and Anthony Cruz that gave the Bobcats a 7-6 lead, Donnelly left a 2-1 pitch over the heart of the plate that Matthew Barefoot, Campbell’s best hitter, was able to sneak inside the foul pole in left field to tie the game up.

In the top of the 9^th inning the Bobcats used a Colton Bender single and a throwing error on a pickoff attempt from Fighting Camels pitcher Tyson Messer to get Colton Bender into scoring position with no one out. At this point, Bobcats head coach John Delaney brought in Derek Kasperzyk to pinch run for Bender. That move paid off as the Fighting Camels’ new pitcher Landry Moore promptly threw one to the backstop, scoring Kasperzyk and giving the Bobcats an 8-7 lead heading into the bottom of the 9^th. A play that, with Kevin Huscher at the plate, looked eerily similar to the one that clinched the MAAC Championship just a week before for the Bobcats.

With a lefty leading off the bottom of the 9^th, Delaney chose to leave Colin Donnelly in the game and the move was a success as Donnelly got his man. With a one run lead and two outs to get, Delaney opted to bring in his closer Andrew Workman, who had a 1.26 ERA and 0.94 WHIP entering the game. Workman, on three pitches, hit two batters, putting the tying and go-ahead runs on base with less than two outs.

This brought in the Opelika, Alabama native, Matthew Christian who was able to loop a ball into shallow center field, taking advantage of Brian Moskey playing to no doubles distance as the ball hit off his outstretched glove and the tying run came across. The next batter, Zach Minnick, took advantage of a Workman mistake and sent a ball to deep center, scoring the game winning run on a sacrifice fly.

After possibly the program’s best win in its history the night before, it was followed up by one of its tougher losses ever not 24 hours later.

Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney said after the game that “He (Moskey) makes that catch on the regular basis and he missed it this time. Obviously, we can be having a different press conference if the play was made.”

Delaney said  this because had Moskey made that catch, Kolby Collins was 30 feet off of 2^nd base and dead to rights for a game ending double-play that would have sent the Bobcats to the regional final.

The loss ensured that East Carolina would get another shot at Quinnipiac following their upset victory the night before.

Plain and simple, the Bobcats ran out of pitching depth to hang with one of the best teams in the country. Arthur Correira started the game for the Bobcats, going 4.0 innings and giving up 5 earned runs on 6 hits with 3 strikeouts and 1 walk. It then took a combination of Anthony Ambrosino, Matthew Draper, Christian Nicolosi, Joe Preciado and Blake DeCarr to get the next 15 outs. Only one Quinnipiac pitcher did not give up an earned run in this one, and that was Blake DeCarr who came in relief of Joe Preciado in the 9^th inning.

No. 10 East Carolina mashed 4 home runs en route to a 13-3 blowout, eliminating the Bobcats and ending their season in Greenville North Carolina.

Senior Brian Moskey played in his final game as a Quinnipiac Bobcat Sunday night and reflected on his time at Quinnipiac in the post-game press conference

“Just with everything with last year and this year everything has changed culture wise, as a team. The whole coaching staff and the team have just become a family,” said Moskey.

Another senior who played their last game at Quinnipiac was 5^th year senior, and ‘The Jungle’s” favorite player, Anthony Cruz. After the game Cruz shed some light on what exactly was going on out in left field.

“Those guys, they treated me well and they were happy that I was interacting with them and you know it was a little give and take and it was an unbelievable experience,” said Cruz.

For Quinnipiac, there is absolutely nothing to hang its head about. While the loss to Campbell was a bitter one, it was followed up not even an hour later by having to play a more rested East Carolina team, and that put the Bobcats behind the eight ball to start. This team got the taste of blood this year, and next year can spell big trouble for the other teams in the MAAC with a hungry and determined Bobcat team. Quinnipiac will be on a mission in 2020 to repeat the feeling they felt this season, and to this point, they have the players bought in and a coach with the right philosophy to defend the MAAC Championship next season.