Hamden, CT – The Quinnipiac Bobcats began their weekend series against the Canisius Golden Griffins with an 8-3 victory on Friday in one of the team’s most complete performances of the season.
Sam Favieri led the way for Quinnipiac firing six innings out of the bullpen to get the win. He limited the Golden Griffins to only three runs after they had combined for 43 in their previous four games. Favieri entered the game in the fourth inning after starter Aaron Zenus threw three shutout innings, allowing the Bobcats to keep the rest of their bullpen fresh for the remaining two games of the series.
Quinnipiac similarly threw only three pitchers in their series-opening win over Iona two weekends ago which helped propel the team to a sweep of the Gaels. Favieri hopes that giving his team a strong outing makes a similar impact in this series.
“We did this last weekend, we had a good turnout the rest of the weekend, so hopefully we can do it again,” Favieri said.
After only scoring 34 runs in their first six conference games of the season, the Quinnipiac offense has stepped up as of late, bringing in 35 runs in their last four games against conference opponents.
“Offense is trending up,” head coach John Delaney said. “Our guys trust what they’re capable of, they have a lot of confidence in what they’re capable of, and I think that’s a big piece which is why we’ve been trending in the right direction.”
Friday’s game was scoreless until the fifth inning when the Bobcats broke through for two runs. Matt DeRosa led off the inning with a base hit and Dominick Proctor followed with a double to right field, putting two runners in scoring position. Quinnipiac wouldn’t have to swing the bat to score as DeRosa reached home on Canisius’ starter Peyton Consigli’s first wild pitch of the game. Two batters later, Consigli threw his second wild pitch of the inning, allowing Proctor to slide in safely at the plate and double the Bobcat lead.
The Golden Griffins would tie it up in the top of the sixth, starting the inning with back-to-back singles off Favieri. After the runners advanced on a Jackson Strong groundout, Josh Niles drove in JC Spinosa from third on a groundout to second. Carlin Dick followed with a double over the head of Quinnipiac centerfielder Gabe Wright to knot the score at two.
In the bottom half of the sixth, the Bobcats put two men in scoring position with two outs against Consigli, but a diving catch by Spinosa prevented Quinnipiac from reclaiming the lead.
Canisius went to their bullpen in the seventh inning, bringing in Tom Peltier, who entered the day with the best ERA for the Golden Griffins. However, the Bobcats capitalized on two errors by the Canisius’ defense, scoring seven runs in the frame. Keegan O’Connor drove in Jared Zimbardo from second with a base hit up the middle and Christian Smith followed up with a double to put two runners in scoring position. After Peltier walked Willis to load the bases, Wright took the second pitch he saw to deep center field, clearing the bases with a double to extend Quinnipiac’s lead to four.
Wright, who had been 0-3 up to that point, took the first pitch of the at-bat for a ball, getting ahead in the count for the first time in the game.
“I went up there with a plan, my plan is always hit a line drive right between the second baseman and the pitcher…in that scenario, you just gotta get your pitch and not miss it and that’s what I did,” Wright said.
The Golden Griffins would get one back in the top of the eighth when Strong doubled to left center to score Kenny Dodson. Willis answered with an RBI double of his own in the bottom of the inning, yet Favieri already had all the run support he needed, sending Canisius down in order in the ninth to secure the victory.
“It’s great, you always wanna win on a Friday to get momentum going for the rest [of the weekend], so yeah we just gotta keep going, do it again,” Favieri said.
While Delaney is pleased with the offensive showing, he recognizes that Canisius still has a dangerous pitching staff, including reigning MAAC Pitcher of the Week Justin Guiliano.
“They’ve always been good at pitching, and we’re expecting their arms to be good, so for them, it’s not necessarily about ‘Hey, we beat up on those guys,’ like that is what it is,” Delaney said. “You’re gonna see Peltier again at some point this weekend, you just have to prepare for each guy that comes out there and have a good plan for success.”
The Bobcats will look to keep their momentum going and secure a series win on Saturday at 1 p.m. against the Golden Griffins.
