It’s senior day in Hamden, Connecticut as the Quinnipiac Bobcats softball team takes on the Iona Gaels in game one of a doubleheader Friday afternoon. 

For the Bobcats, sophomore Sydney Horan made her twentieth appearance of the season. Heading into the game, Horan has an 8-9 record with a 2.47 ERA. For the Gaels, Kara Zazzaro took the mound, making her seventeenth appearance of the season.

Both teams came out strong pitching to start game one as both Horan and Zazzaro pitched a complete game. Through the first three innings, both teams were held scoreless and only had one hit a piece. 

In the top of the fourth inning, Iona would put themselves in a position to strike. After back-to-back singles by Jamie Sheeran and Kaylin Flukey, the Gaels would have runners on second and third base. On a ground out to second base, Kenadie Gonzalez would put the first run on the board. 

One batter later, Emma Capuano hit a single through the left side and scored two runs. Bobcats left fielder, Serena Fogg would field the play perfectly and fire a laser directly to the catcher Hannah Davis. Although the runner would have been called out, the home plate umpire ruled interference by Davis, therefore the runner was safe. The Gaels were now up 3-0. 

Opportunities were slim for the Bobcats in game one. In the third, the Bobcats would strand two runners. In the fifth, sixth, and seventh inning, the Bobcats would strand one runner in each inning. Quinnipiac was left without a big hit to push them back into this game. 

In the top of the seventh, Iona would extend their lead and add a run of insurance. The leadoff batter, Gonzalez reached second on a two-base fielding error by right fielder Amanda Engel. Once again, Capuano would come through for the Gaels, lacing a double to left center, scoring Gonzalez. 

The Bobcats would need a four-run comeback in the bottom of the seventh to continue this ball game. After a single by Lala Pascual, Quinnipiac would fail to bring her in and end the ball game. 

There was no shortage of pitching in this afternoon’s ball game as the two starters combined for 14 innings pitched with 11 strikeouts and only three earned runs allowed. Besides the big inning in the fourth, Horan pitched a great ballgame as she only allowed four hits and one unearned run in the remaining six innings of work. 

Despite her excellent outing, the Bobcats had no answer for Zazzaro throughout game one. Any time Quinnipiac would get a base runner, Zazzaro would work herself out of it. She would finish the game with eight strikeouts and four hits allowed while picking up the win. 

After the loss, the Bobcats fell to a 15-18 record while Iona improved to 14-22-1. The Bobcats will look to bounce back in game two of the doubleheader as they try to split the series with Iona.