Quinnipiac played its MAAC opener on Friday, March 13, against Sacred Heart before the game was suspended due to darkness at the start of the ninth inning and resumed Saturday.
The Pioneers jumped on senior right-hander James Pazdera from the opening frame. Junior utility man Ronan Donohue was hit by a pitch to ignite the first inning, and first baseman Will Cook followed with an RBI single up the middle.
Junior outfielder Peter Link singled home another run before a passed ball scored a third to make it 3-0.
Donohue then launched a two-run home run in the second inning that pushed the Sacred Heart lead to 5-0 and chased any early confidence out of the Bobcats’ dugout.
Sophomore right-hander Bryan Matuschat kept the Bobcats bats quiet on the mound for the Pioneers, carrying a shutout through the first five innings. Quinnipiac managed six hits off Matuschat in that stretch but could not string anything together, leaving runners stranded in the first, second and fourth innings. Matuschat finished with six innings of work, allowing eight hits and two unearned runs while striking out three on 111 pitches.
Sacred Heart blew the game open in the top of the sixth. Sophomore left-hander J.C. Franconere, who had relieved Pazdera to start the fifth, walked three batters to load the bases before Link ripped a double that cleared all three runners and extended the lead to 8-0.
The Bobcats finally scratched across a pair of runs in the bottom of the frame when freshman outfielder Caden Williamson lined an RBI single and freshman infielder Peyton Vancas scored during a rundown between first and second.
The seventh inning changed everything. Quinnipiac sent 10 batters to the plate and hung a five-spot on the Sacred Heart bullpen.
Freshman outfielder Chase Camac and redshirt sophomore catcher Cole Constable opened the frame with back-to-back walks, and senior shortstop Alex Irizarry worked a free pass of his own to load the bases. Junior infielder Kyle Garbowski was hit by a pitch to bring home the first run, junior designated hitter Jack Balcer singled to shortstop for another and Williamson took a pitch off the body with the bases loaded again to make it 8-5.
Graduate outfielder James Marino then delivered the biggest swing of the night, lacing a two-run single through the right side that pulled the Bobcats within 8-7.
Quinnipiac completed the comeback in the eighth. Constable drew a one-out walk, stole second and moved to third on the throw. Irizarry then lifted a sacrifice fly to left field that scored Constable and knotted the game at eight.
Marino was the most productive down the stretch for the Bobcats’ offense, going 3-for-4 with two RBI, while Vancas reached base three times and collected a pair of hits.
Senior right-hander Nick Balcom and freshman right-hander Joseph Hiller combined to hold Sacred Heart scoreless over the final 2.1 innings out of the bullpen, keeping the comeback alive long enough for the offense to finish the job. The game would be suspended due to the inclement weather and be resumed on Saturday.
When the game picked back up, senior right-hander Mike Poncini came in for Hiller and on the very first pitch, sophomore infielder Dave Yorke hit a solo homer to right that carried further due to the immense winds present on the field.
There would mound nay chance of a complete comeback for the Bobcats as freshman right-hander Graham Willerer, who came in to the game before the suspension, was able to get Williamson and Vancas to ground and strike out before Marino was hit by a pitch, and later advanced to second with a balk called on Willerer, but first baseman Christian Nilsen was not able to cash in, as he struck out leading to a 9-8 victory for the Pioneers.
The second game of the three-game MAAC series will follow 30-45 minutes after the conclusion of the first game on Saturday, March 14, in Hamden, CT.
