The Quinnipiac baseball team kicked off its midweek slate of games with an all-around rough start, coming up short Tuesday in a loss to the Sacred Heart Pioneers, 12-6.
It was an effort that head coach John Delaney feels came as a result of too much sloppiness and not making enough plays on the field.
“We made too many mistakes,” Delaney said. “Did not make enough plays, not enough big plays. There’s a difference between two days ago and today right? Big plays have to be made and we just didn’t do it.”
Things got off to a rough start in the first for the Bobcats when Sacred Heart shortstop Gavin Donohue and third baseman Jake McDowell tallied back-to-back singles to center field, immediately creating an opportunity for the Pioneers.
First baseman Donte D’Amore would follow this up with the third hit of the inning, scoring Donohue and moving McDowell over to third. After this, right fielder Alex Ungar beat out what would have been an inning-ending double play for the Bobcats, scoring McDowell and securing an early 2-0 lead for the Pioneers.
Things didn’t get much better for Bobcats’ starter Andrew Rubayo, as he went just four innings on the day, giving up eight hits and six runs. Much of the undoing came in the top of the fifth, when there was a miscommunication at first on a soft infield grounder, leading to left fielder Michael Hernandez reaching base safely. Catcher Dennis Gamester followed this up with a two-run home run over the left-field wall to make it 4-0 Pioneers.
Later in the inning, a ground ball to third mishandled by Quinnipiac’s Kyle Garbowski led to a double from Donohue, scoring Pioneers second baseman John Greene to make the game 5-0.
Pitcher Evan Jasek came in to relieve Rubayo but would give up Rubayo’s final run to Donohue and add on three more of his own with another home run to designated hitter Ronan Donohue, making it 9-0 Sacred Heart.
In spite of the Struggles, Delaney once again reemphasized that today’s outing was not to blame on the pitching and instead was more on lack of execution in the field.
“We gotta make plays, we missed two bunts, we missed a pop-up, we didn’t dive on a fly ball. It’s not pitching’s fault,” Delaney said.
Relievers Frank Craska and Ryan Hutchinson would give up the final three runs of the day for the Bobcats, with Quinnipiac’s runs coming when the game was already far out of reach.
However, despite the lack of execution in the field, there was one play that shined through. In a SportsCenter, top-ten level effort, Quinnipiacr right fielder Jared Zimbardo would hustle into foul territory to make a diving catch on a high foul ball off the bat of Gamester.
Zimbardo couldn’t keep the ball in his glove but it kicked back into the air and Bobcats second baseman Matt DeRosa made a heads-up web gem, snagging the ball before it hit the ground for an out. Outside of this though, there wasn’t much for the Bobcats to smile about today.
The Bobcats look to pick things right back up tomorrow against the University of Rhode Island, when Coach Delaney hopes to find a change in his team’s mentality.
“We have to play a little tougher, more aggressive,” Delaney said. “That was the issue today. We played on our heels.”
