Quinnipiac hosted Niagara on Thursday, April 2, and watched its defense become its worst enemy in an 8-6 loss to open a three-game MAAC series.
“We just gotta play better on the defensive side,” Quinnipiac head coach John Delaney said. “I feel like we usually do a pretty good job of taking care of the baseball.”
The Purple Eagles set the tone on the second pitch of the ball game. Senior shortstop Jacob Brooks lined a single to center, and redshirt senior center fielder Elijha Hammill jumped on the first offering he saw and launched a two-run home run down the right-field line that gave Niagara an immediate 2-0 lead before the Bobcats could settle in.
Quinnipiac punched right back with patience at the plate. Junior second baseman Kyle Garbowski drew a four-pitch walk to open the bottom of the first.
The Bobcats then loaded the bases with two outs after junior designated hitter Jack Balcer singled to shortstop and senior shortstop Alex Irizarry worked a full-count walk.
Junior outfielder James Marino drew a 3-2 bases-loaded walk to plate Garbowski, and freshman third baseman Peyton Vancas followed with another free pass that brought home Balcer and squared the score at two.
That momentum disappeared in the second inning. With a runner on third and two outs, Irizarry let a ground ball kick out of his glove at short, allowing one run to cross. On the very next at-bat, he rushed a throw to first that sailed past senior first baseman Christian Smith, and two more unearned runs came around to blow the game open at 5-2. Three runs scored in the frame, none of them earned.
“Mistakes are gonna happen,” Delaney said. “You can’t have multiple things happening in a row. That’s where it hurts you, because it allows a team to have too much momentum.”
Graduate right-hander James Pazdera bounced back with three consecutive strikeouts in the third but could not survive the fourth. Hammill drew a bases-loaded walk to push the lead to 6-2, and that was all for Pazdera, who took the loss after allowing six runs, three earned, on five hits and 90 pitches across 3.0 innings.
Graduate right-hander Nick Balcom entered with the bases loaded and slammed the door, retiring all three batters he faced to stop the bleeding. Balcom went on to fire 3.0 scoreless innings of relief, scattering three hits with three punchouts.
“Balcom was awesome,” Delaney said. “The pitchers did a good job. We put ourselves in a situation to win a game. We just can’t make as many mistakes.”
The bottom of the fifth brought the Bobcats back to life. Freshman outfielder Caden Williamson singled to open the frame and Garbowski ripped a triple that sent the Quinnipiac dugout into a frenzy.
The throw from the outfield got away and Garbowski scored on the play to turn his triple into a two-run rally that pulled the deficit to 6-4. Smith followed with a double to right-center and later scored on an Irizarry sacrifice fly to trim the score to 6-5.
The sixth inning offered a chance to tie the game. Junior catcher Cole Constable singled, and freshman outfielder Chase Camac reached on a bunt that drew an error from the Niagara defense.
With runners at first and second and nobody out, the Bobcats could not cash in. Garbowski grounded into a fielder’s choice and Constable was thrown out trying to score from third on the play to kill the rally.
“We had that big situation with first and second,” Delaney said. “We need that bunt to get down, and that would have changed the inning drastically.”
Niagara padded its cushion in the seventh after Vancas committed two more errors at the hot corner. Junior catcher Jason Green singled home the first run and a second scored when a stolen base attempt drew a wild throw that sailed into the outfield to push the lead to 8-5.
Irizarry answered with a solo blast down the right-field line in the bottom of the frame to pull the Bobcats back within two, but that was as close as Quinnipiac would get.
Senior right-hander Mike Poncini turned in three solid innings of relief for the Bobcats, allowing two runs, none earned, while striking out three. Senior right-hander Andrew Damiani entered in the ninth for Niagara and retired the side in order to collect his seventh save of the season.
The Bobcats’ pitching staff combined for 13 strikeouts on the afternoon, but the four errors allowed five unearned runs that proved to be the difference.
Quinnipiac will look to tie the series on Friday, April 3. First pitch is set for 1 p.m.
