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[/media-credit]It was a day of Jekyll and Hyde, an Iona College fan said of the team’s sweep over the Quinnipiac softball team on Friday, the final scores being 6-0 and 6-5.
The Bobcats’ (16-20, 5-3 MAAC) bats coming into the week had been red-hot having scored 35 runs over a five-game winning streak before facing Yale on Wednesday. Since the 8-0 loss to the Bulldogs, the bats have been silent. The team was shutout in two of its last three games.
“I think they’re just overthinking in the box,” Quinnipiac head coach Jill Karwoski said. “We had a lot of information on them so I think it just got to them a little bit. When they started to relax, attack strikes, I think we had a lot more scoring opportunities.”
Prior to this series, the Gaels’ (15-16, 7-1 MAAC) bats weren’t getting the job done. Over a span that saw the team go 3-3, it was only able to muster 14 runs.
Leading the way on the day for the Gaels were senior catcher Tori Danner and sophomore infielder Jasmine Temple. Danner went 4-for-7 on the day with five RBIs and Temple 6-for-8 with two RBIs.
In game one, Bobcats senior pitcher Casey Herzog was handed the loss, but still managed to clog the stat sheet with a nine strikeout performance.
“All along, Casey’s our spark plug,” Karwoski said. “When she has run support, she’s going to have the wins. We obviously put up the zero, so it’s difficult to pitch behind when you don’t have any runs. They hit her hard. They had a good approach with Casey today, so we have to make that adjustment tomorrow.”
Anyone following this team knows that it’s been a rough season for sophomore pitcher Abbey Long. She came into the day with an 0-8 record and a 10.32 ERA. Long came into the game in the 3rd inning in relief of junior pitcher Kendall Brundrett who was hit hard in her two innings. Long in relief went five innings and both runs she gave up were unearned.
“Abbey did great and she did really well against Yale,” Karwoski said. “She was hitting her spots and she came out today in a relief position, she came out, she hit her spots, she got a lot of results that she was looking for with the ground balls. I think she’s on the upswing.”
Long finding her groove would be huge for the Bobcats who are set to travel to Marist on Saturday, April 14 for a doubleheader. The Bobcats look to bounce back and snap their three-game skid.
“I think it’s all about who’s mentally tough in that moment,” Karwoski said. “We came out mentally strong that first weekend, [against] Niagara and Canisius and I think we just started to overthink a little bit today. We just have to make that adjustment tomorrow.”
