The Quinnipiac baseball team is beginning to learn the hard way that it will need strong production from starting pitchers outside of Derek Lamacchia.
And that its offense will need to score runs in order to string together wins.
Sacred Heart swept the Bobcats Saturday in a doubleheader by final scores of 10-0 and 4-0. Game 1 starter Spencer Kane was tagged for six earned-runs in 3.2 innings pitched, while Nicholas Fabrizio gave up four earned in the first 6.1 innings of Game 2.
In both contests, Sacred Heart jumped out to at least a 3-0 lead after the initial half-frame.
“The team at Sacred Heart is a very good offensive team,” Quinnipiac head coach Dan Gooley said. “They’re very well coached, and they have an outstanding offensive approach at the plate. When you don’t make good enough pitches against them, they’ll hurt you.”
Pioneer John Murphy combined to go 3 for 7 on the day, including three RBIs and a walk. Murphy began Game 1 with a three-run shot to right field for the early Sacred Heart lead.
“John Murphy is probably the best offensive player in New England,” Gooley said. “You watch him take batting practice, you watch him play over the course of two weeks, he would astonish you with his ability to swing the bat and his power. He’s a great hitter.”
Pioneers starting pitchers Nick Leiningen and Jeff Stoddard each went the distance in their efforts, totaling 14 innings pitched while striking out eight and walking just one.
In Game 1, Keaton Flint was hit by a pitch to open the contest, while Brian Lamboy reached after a poor throw from third baseman Chris Migani. With men on first and second, Murphy cranked a home run to right field. Jesus Medina then followed by driving in Dan Perez on a base hit past second, while Jayson Sullivan knocked in Rocco Gondek on an infield hit for the five-run lead after half-an-inning.
Sacred Heart added two more home runs before the end of Game 1. In the fourth, Gandek belted a three-run shot to left field. In the sixth, Dave Boisture corked a homer to right center for the 10-0 lead.
“They [Sacred Heart] don’t make a lot of mistakes at the plate,” Gooley said. “We made some good pitches, and we made some pitches that weren’t very good. They buried us.”
In Game 2 it was Murphy again who opened the scoring, driving in Flint from second on a base hit up the middle. Later, Derick Horn singled in Boisture and Perez on a knock through the right side.
The Pioneers recorded an additional run in the top of the seventh, when Lamboy scored on a Perez base hit.
Quinnipiac’s best chance came in the fourth following a Chris Migani single and Scott Donaghue double. Yet, on the next play, Donaghue was caught between third and home on a Ryan Nelson fielder’s choice, a play Gooley said was a “running mistake”.
The Bobcats look to split the four-game series tomorrow against the Pioneers at 1 p.m.
