In the rubber match against the NJIT Highlanders on Sunday, the Quinnipiac Bobcats held on to win 5-3 off the bats of CJ Willis and Dominick Proctor.
Getting the start for the Bobcats was graduate student Jack Kabel. One of Coach John Delany’s most useful pitchers. Kabel limited opponents to a .220 batting average, leading the Bobcats staff.
Kabel looked sharp early, utilizing his changeup to keep the high-profile bats of Cade Ladehoff and Luke Longo at bay. In fact, in his first go-around of the Highlanders, the only base runners came off of two walks and an error.
Quinnipiac wasted no time getting on the board, as in the bottom of the first, center fielder Keegan O’Connor beat out an infield single. After a wild pitch that moved him to second, Willis, the first baseman, came up big with an RBI hit to center.
Willis has had plenty of clutch hits of late, with a big RBI triple against Iona on April. 7, as well as another triple in that game-changing seventh inning back on Friday against NJIT.
In the top of the third, Proctor, the junior shortstop, couldn’t come up with the short hop cleanly, allowing AJ Soldra to reach base. Proctor then made a pair of slick plays that nearly stranded Soldra at third. However, when a grounder off the bat of Longo drew Proctor into the hole, the long throw just barely drew Willis off of the bag, allowing the Highlanders to tie the game at one.
In the top of the fourth, Kabel found himself in his first true jam of the game. NJIT shortstop Ray Ortiz slapped a single to right and then third baseman Michael Doyle walked to make it runners on the corners with only one out. As Cole Campbell showed bunt, Doyle took off for second. Bobcat backstop Christian Smith unleashed a cannon to gun him for the second out. Campbell then hit a slow chop to third that Spencer Chard made a nifty play to retire the side. That would spell the end of a solid performance for Kabel, who gave up one unearned run through four, struck out two, and only allowed one hit.
In the bottom of the fourth, the senior and reigning MAAC Player of the Week Matt DeRosa started for the home team with a solid hit through the left side. Despite getting thrown out at third on a Proctor double, the freshman, Chard, came through, notching his first career hit, RBI, and extra-base hit with a double down the right field line that scored Proctor. NJIT pitcher Brandon Peterson then walked the next three Bobcats to bring around a third run. By the time Smith flew out to right, it was 3-1 Bobcats.
After the game, Chard said that all of his firsts “were a little overdue” with a smile. “It felt good to help the team secure a win.”
To start the fifth inning, Coach Delaney went to the bullpen and brought in the 6’5 right hander, Raymond McNaught.
With one out in the bottom of the fifth, Quinnipiac right fielder Gabe Wright roped a ball into the left-center gap that he turned into a double with ease. Then, Peterson walked DeRosa on four pitches before Highlander coach Robbie McClellan called upon Liam Reiner. Reiner pitched in the first game of the series, allowing five runs in just one inning to be handed the loss
With Reiner in the game, Wright and DeRosa successfully pulled off a double steal to put runners on second and third. Proctor hit a hard ground ball to Ortiz at short that scored Wright for another insurance run, making it 4-1 Bobcats.
Mcnaught’s second inning did not go as smoothly. Besides two flyouts, he walked the bases loaded and delivered ball one to Campbell before coach Delaney had Andrew Rubayo come on to relieve him. Despite coming into a 1-0 count, Rubayo got Campbell to poke the ball over to Proctor who stepped on second to halt the Highlander momentum.
Coach Delaney was thrilled with Rubayo’s escaping act. “We just pitched awesome for three games, and got out of some big jams and did a great job of minimizing damage.”
After Rubayo sailed through the top of the seventh, Willis again got the Bobcats going with a hard-hit single right up the middle. After an Ortiz throwing error that allowed DeRosa to reach and Willis to go to third, Proctor laid down a textbook bunt that brought Willis home, making it 5-1.
As the rain started to come down, the offenses went dormant. In both frames of the eighth inning, the only batter to reach was Ortiz as he doubled into center.
Rubayo went out for the ninth, technically in a save scenario as he would eclipse the three innings necessary for a save. He got into some scary waters though, as Campbell opened up the inning with a blast over the right field wall to cut the deficit to three. Rubayo then allowed a walk, a sacrifice bunt and two singles that made it 5-3 with runners on first and second. In a fateful turn of events, Longo bounced a ball to Proctor and after a flip to DeRosa and a great turn to get the ball to Willis, the Bobcats secured the win on the double play.
The Bobcats return to action next weekend with a three-game home stand against Canisius.
