It was a rough day all around for the Quinnipiac Bobcats as they dropped the first game of their Saturday double-header 7-1 against the Iona Gaels.
Things weren’t ideal for the Bobcats from the start. Pitcher Sydney Horan got into early trouble on the mound. Her outing started with a leadoff single to left and a double by Iona third baseman Emma Capuano and left fielder Kayla Haywood respectively. Later in the inning with the bases loaded, first baseman Kaylin Flukey drew a walk to put the Gaels up 1-0. A wild pitch on Iona’s next at-bat scored Haywood further adding to Iona’s lead.
In the top of the third inning, Gaels catcher Jamie Sheeran hit a two-run shot over the left field fence to make it 4-0 Gaels. The Gaels ended the day for Horan early, going only the three innings starting.
Pitcher Lauren Hilliard entered the game in the top of the fourth in relief of Horan, but it wasn’t enough to stop the bleeding for the Bobcats. In the fifth, Hilliard would walk the bases loaded to Gaels catcher Brooke Acker, utility player Hailey Guerrero and Flukey. Infielder Alivia Lichtner seized this opportunity for the Gaels, hitting a sacrifice fly into centerfield scoring Acker. To make things worse for the Bobcats, a throwing error in centerfield also scored Guerrero and Flukey putting Quinnipiac into a 7-0 hole.
This score stayed the course for the remainder of the game until the seventh inning. Quinnipiac’s bats were very quiet up until the end of the game. The lineup went cold serving up a bevy of groundouts, flyouts and strikeouts while putting up a dud on the scoreboard.
The Bobcats would finally get an opportunity to show off some offense in the bottom of the seventh. The bases were loaded and shortstop Natalia Apatiga stepped up to the plate looking to do some damage with a chance to significantly cut into the Gaels lead.
This was also the first time all game that the fans in attendance were starting to get into the game as well. Unfortunately for the Bobcats, a late-inning comeback just wasn’t in the cards. Apatiga would end up grounding out to short. She did end the potential complete game shut-out as her sacrifice out would score the runner at third putting the Bobcats on the board and making it a 7-1 game. That would be all though, as with two outs, Outfielder Mary Fogg would fly out ending the game.
The Bobcats have their second game of the doubleheader lined up at 3 p.m. as they look to avoid losing the series to the Gaels.
