Quinnipiac could not slow Sacred Heart’s momentum on Saturday afternoon, falling 10-4 in the second game of the weekend series at the QU Baseball Field. The loss dropped the Bobcats to 4-11 overall and 0-2 in MAAC play, while the Pioneers improved to 4-11 and 3-2 in conference action.
Before Saturday’s second game even began, Quinnipiac was forced to finish Friday’s suspended opener. Sacred Heart resumed play at the top of the ninth tied at 8 and needed only one pitch, as sophomore infielder Dave Yorke drove a solo homer to right for the winning run in a 9-8 Pioneer victory.
Quinnipiac still put the tying run in scoring position in the bottom half when graduate outfielder James Marino was hit by a pitch and moved up on a balk, but the rally was halted there.
Quinnipiac still struck first in the day’s second game. First-year outfielder Chase Camac came around to score in the bottom of the first when senior infielder Alex Irizarry punched an RBI single into right. That lead did not last long. In the second, sophomore right-hander Sam Wright was boxed in after a hit batter and back-to-back bunts loaded the bases with no outs.
A wild pitch tied the game, then first-year outfielder Jacob Schmutz snuck a double just inside the left-field line to clear the bases. Junior utility man Ronan Donohue followed by driving a ball off the top of the wall in nearly the same spot where he homered in Friday’s opener, stretching the lead to 5-1 before Wright cut him down trying to take third.
The Bobcats chipped away, but never fully got back into the game. In the fourth, first-year outfielder Caden Williamson reached after a lengthy review upheld an error on Sacred Heart, then immediately moved into scoring position and later crossed on a sophomore infielder Matt Park’s RBI groundout.
Quinnipiac tried again in the sixth after a confusing interference review erased a dangerous double-steal sequence for the Pioneers and helped the Bobcats settle the inning with a double play. In the bottom half, Park lifted a sacrifice fly to center that brought Williamson home and cut the deficit to 5-3.
Wright kept Quinnipiac within range through five innings, striking out five, but the second inning damage stayed on the board.
Sacred Heart answered before Quinnipiac could seriously threaten. In the seventh, Park threw out a runner at the plate for the first out, but the inning quickly turned when Schmutz scored on a Quinnipiac error and senior infielder Will Cook lined an RBI triple into right-center.
The Pioneers added two more in the eighth on a first-year infielder Ryan Rey’s RBI single and a Schmutz ground-ball double play that still plated a run. Park gave Quinnipiac one more run back with an RBI single in the bottom of the eighth, scoring Marino, but a deep drive from Camac died on the warning track, and the inning ended with only one run in.
Cook then added the final blow in the ninth with a solo homer to right. Park drove in three of Quinnipiac’s four runs and was the clearest offensive bright spot.
Williamson scored twice, while Marino reached base three times. Quinnipiac drew seven walks, but only seven hits followed and 11 runners were left on base.
Sacred Heart finished with 12 hits, led by Schmutz’s three-RBI day and Cook’s two-hit, two-RBI performance. Graduate right-hander Ryan Parker worked six innings for the Pioneers, and junior PJ Rogan closed the final three frames for the save.
Quinnipiac will try to avoid the sweep Sunday, March 15, with first pitch scheduled for 1 p.m.
