With the season winding down, Quinnipiac played their second to last series of the year. They are currently in a tight race with Canisius and Iona in the MAAC standings, all fighting for playoff positions. The Bobcats had a difficult matchup ahead as they were facing a Rider team who is fighting for the number one position in the conference. Quinnipiac won 9-4 in the first matchup of the day in a shoot out. Although, the same could not be said in the second game.

Senior pitcher Clayton Poiley for the Rider Broncos had a standout performance on the mound vs Quinnipiac. The Bobcat bats were cold as Quinnipiac tallied 2 runs on 4 hits. Rider won the game 5-2, improving to 27-17 while Quinnipiac declined to 23-25.

CLAYTON POLIEY COMPLETE GAME AND WE GET THE SERIES DUB 😤✅#GoBroncs | #MAACBaseball pic.twitter.com/YrzRs0uU7S

— RiderBaseball (@RiderUBaseball) May 8, 2026

After a quiet first inning, the Broncos found their groove in the second with senior outfielder Anthony Paskell and junior catcher Nick Shuhet each recording a hit to set up sophomore second baseman Eliot Medlock with a golden opportunity. With a quick smack of the bat, the ball just squeezed down the third base line for a double to score in Paskell. The next batter sophomore designated hitter Peter Crespo then grounded out but, but scored Shuhet running from third to give Rider an early 2-0 lead.

Later in the 3rd inning, senior third baseman Will Gallagher hit a blooper into right field and eventually put himself in scoring position. Two batters later, red shirt junior, left fielder Kyle Neri drove the ball up the middle to score Gallagher from second to extend the Rider lead 3-0.

After an ice cold start, the Bobcat offense awakened in the fifth inning. Senior shortstop, Alex Irizarry angled the ball perfectly deep into the right field corner for a triple to set the tone for Quinnipiac. Right after, junior designated hitter Jack Balcer grounded out to shortstop but scores Irizarry from third. Despite the gap in hits, Quinnipiac only trailed 1-3.

🔽 5 | Balcer grounds out and scores Irizarry to get us on the board!#BobcatNation x #MAACBaseball

— Quinnipiac Baseball (@TheQBaseball) May 8, 2026

Several scoreless innings later, the ninth inning was where Rider sealed the deal. With two runners in scoring position, sophomore first baseman Charley Magoulic launched the ball to deep left center field and scored both senior right fielder Erich Hartmann and Kyle Neri to give Rider a commanding 5-1.

Down by four runs in the bottom of the ninth, the Bobcats didn’t go away easy. With two outs and two men on base, senior first baseman Christian Smith scored the pinch runner, senior Luke Zeisloft from second to cut the lead to 2-5. 

Although they allowed a grand total of 13 hits, the Bobcat defense limited the Rider batters to only 5 runs. Despite getting in tough situations early into innings, the defense stood strong and limited the damage. 

“We did a good job at getting out of jams and shutting them out.” Head Coach John Delaney said after the game. 

The batters though could not get in a rhythm against Clayton Poiley who pitched a complete game, only allowing 4 hits. The Bobcats played a close competitive game, but fell just short of a series victory. Quinnipiac will play their final series of the regular season at Merrimack starting Thursday May 14th, at 3:00 P.M.