His pitching did. His offense? Not so much.
The Bobcats lost for the 14th time in 15 games, as they were were shut out in Game 1 and just put one run on the board in Game 2, getting swept in a Northeast Conference doubleheader against the Blue Devils, 4-0 and 6-1, at QU Baseball Field.
CCSU pitchers Dave Krasnowiecki and Nick Nuemann each threw complete games and shut down the Bobcat offense.
“They were outstanding,” Gooley said of CCSU’s pitchers. “They did a great job on the mound today. I tip my bat off to both of those kids.”
Neumann needed only 68 pitches for his seven-inning complete game and took a perfect game into the fifth inning before Zak Palmer singled cleanly up the middle with two outs.
The Bobcats (14-26, 10-16 NEC) are 0-13 when they score two or fewer runs, and have done that 12 times in the past 23 games. They have scored four runs in the past 33 innings, and were shut out by Connecticut Monday.
“We have to regroup and get back onto the field,” Gooley said. “We’ve got to play the game hard, right and smart. You have to execute.”
Quinnipiac generated three hits off Krasnowiecki, all singles by Kyle Nisson, Mike Bartlett and Gabe Guerino, in the first game. Zak Palmer went 2-for-3 in the second game, but the other Bobcat hitters combined to go 3-for-22.
The Bobcats are hitting .264 on the season, second-worst in the conference. The Blue Devils have the second-best team batting average in the league, as they are hitting .296.
Quinnipiac pitcher Anthony Cinelli threw 96 pitches in 6 1/3 innings of work, striking out five and walking just one batter.
“Cinelli is a guy who’s battled for us the entire year,” Gooley said. “He’s the kind of kid who doesn’t have overpowering stuff. His breaking ball — when it’s down — is good and his fastball — when it’s down — is good.”
Central Connecticut (22-17-1, 14-9) took advantage of two Quinnipiac errors in the first inning of Game 2.
Outfielder Ben Farina dropped a fly ball to allow Mitch Wells to reach base and Jake Matuszak to advance to third base. After Matuszak scored on a groundout, JP Sportman reached on a fielding error by shortstop Mickey Amanti to allow Wells to score and give the Blue Devils an early 2-0 lead.
“I don’t think we played very well defensively in the first inning for [Cinelli],” Gooley said. “We dropped the fly ball in center field and made an error at shortstop, but that’s part of the game. Unfortunately that happens.”
Sean Miller-Jones hit a two-run double off Cinelli in the fourth inning, and later scored on a single by Danny Hickey to make the score 5-0. Wells hit a solo home run, his first of the season, in the seventh.
George Dummar labored in Game 1, throwing 112 pitches in six innings of work. Dummar walked three and struck out four batters, but got into trouble in the third inning.
Dummar walked the leadoff hitter, who advanced to second on a groundout. Dylan DelaCruz singled him in, and Pat Epps, who went 3-for-4 in Game 1, hit an RBI double to left center.
Dummar was able to pitch through jams, as he escaped a bases loaded jam in the fourth and get Tyler McIntyre to ground out with runners on second and third to end the fifth.
