The Quinnipiac baseball team went into Sunday’s game looking to bounce back from two losses to Sacred Heart on Saturday afternoon. After not scoring in the doubleheader the day prior, the last thing the Bobcats wanted was to give up a run in the top of the first and put themselves into an early hole.
Pioneer center fielder Keaton Flint was able to do just that, however, when he led off the game with a solo shot over the left-center field fence. Behind Flint’s five hits on the day, the Pioneers never looked back from that lead and defeated Quinnipiac (10-15, 5-7 NEC) by a final score of 19-1.
“You have got to respond to challenges,” Quinnipiac head coach Dan Gooley said. “The game of baseball is very difficult, and there is no forgiveness here. We didn’t respond well today.”
Flint went 5 for 7 on the afternoon with six RBI’s and three runs scored for Sacred Heart (12-13, 8-4 NEC). He belted his second home run of the contest in the fifth inning, which put the Pioneers up 10-0 at the time.
First baseman Dave Boisture also contributed with four hits, two runs, and two RBIs of his own.
The Bobcats pitching staff gave up 19 hits total. Freshman southpaw Justin Thomas got the start, lasting only 2.1 innings, giving up six hits and five earned runs. It took five other pitchers after Thomas to get Quinnipiac through the day.
“When guys are not getting people out and you’ve got to go through an entire bullpen to do that, then you do it,” Gooley said. “You try to win every pitch, every inning, and every game.”
Junior Kody Kerski got the win for Sacred Heart. He went eight innings, gave up four hits, one unearned run, and struck out six Bobcats. James Cooksey pitched the final frame.
First basemen Vincent Guglietti had two of the six hits for Quinnipiac on the afternoon. His RBI single in the bottom half of the eight was the only run Quinnipiac has scored in the past 27 innings.
“Our key all year has been our ability to pitch and play defense, then get some timely hitting. We’ve done that until this weekend,” Gooley said. “We’ve got to get back to that. It was a good old fashioned rear-end kicking today.”
The Bobcats look to get back on track April 9 when they will travel to Rhode Island for a 3:30 p.m. start.
