After playing their first 14 games on the road to start the season, the Quinnipiac Bobcats baseball team played its home opener on a chilly Saturday afternoon against the St. John’s Red Storm. The Bobcats lost to the Red Storm 15-5 in the opener.

For the 5-9 Bobcats, graduate student and Quinnipiac first-year Tim Blaisdell took the mound, while southpaw sophomore Joe Mascio started for the 11-5 Red Storm. 

After a scoreless first inning, St. John’s first baseman Aaron Mann led off the second with a line drive that cleared the left field wall. An inning later, a Luke Orbon sacrifice fly tacked on another run and in the fourth, and third baseman Marty Higgins gave the Red Storm a 4-0 lead after sending a ball over the left field fence. 

Through the first five innings, the Bobcats were held scoreless by Mascio. Despite a zero on the scoreboard, Quinnipiac had left four runners on base, including an additional two runners who were caught stealing. The Bobcats were missing that big hit to drive in runs.

“We began the game with two guys on base in the first inning and we didn’t get the big hit,” said head coach John Delaney. “We had the same thing in the second, two guys on base and we didn’t get the big hit.”

In the sixth, Quinnipiac cashed in on their first big hit, a two RBI-single by first baseman Sean Swenson. Despite the big hit, the Bobcats still found themselves down five. 

After six innings of work, Blaisdell completed his afternoon. He ended the day with four strikeouts, one walk and seven earned runs allowed. Taking over the mound for Quinnipiac was first-year Bobcat Sam Favieri. Favieri’s outing didn’t last long as he only recorded one out while allowing four runs on five hits. 

Just like Blaisdell, Mascio also departed the game after six innings. His day ended with seven strikeouts, two walks and two runs allowed, both unearned. 

After scoring two runs in the sixth, the Bobcat bats went cold again with runners on base. In the seventh they left two runners on base and in the eighth Keegan O’Connor was stranded after delivering an RBI single to center, which helped them avoid the early loss.

The Bobcats needed a huge comeback in the bottom of the ninth as they were down by a score of 15-3. Despite the deficit, Quinnipiac strung together four hits and scored two runs. One was off the bat of an Anthony Donofrio fielder’s choice and the other off a John Heitzman single. 

Even with the ninth inning rally, the Bobcats fell short and dropped their home opener by a score of 15-5. The Bobcats fell to a record of 5-10 while the Red Storm improved their record to 12-5. 

“The hitting from an approach standpoint was better today, which is what we emphasize,” said Delaney. “From my standpoint, we did a good job having better at bats.” 

The Bobcats will look to avoid a sweep and continue off of their late rally as they head back to Queens, New York tomorrow afternoon at 1 p.m. to face the Red Storm in the final game of their three-game weekend series.