It doesn’t feel like winter when baseball season starts. But the cold still stings after a loss.
In its first meeting in program history, Liberty kicked off its inaugural season in Conference USA with a 10-0 victory over Quinnipiac baseball Friday evening.
Both the Bobcats and Flames were ranked No. 2 in their respective conference’s preseason polls, but it was Liberty who had the edge on Friday thanks to a stellar outing from junior RHP Cole Hertzler. The Pennsylvania native threw six scoreless innings with seven strikeouts to shut out the Bobcats.
A leadoff base hit and a walk in the bottom of the first inning quickly put Quinnipiac senior right-hand pitcher Jimmy Hagan in a jam. But the Flames weren’t about to strand two runners. Junior right fielder Camden Troyer put Liberty on the board with a three-run shot.
Hagan stopped the bleeding but was replaced by graduate student right-hand pitcher Sam Favieri who took the mound in the second. Once again, Quinnipiac found itself with runners on, but sophomore right fielder Gabe Wright ended the inning with a rundown catch to contain the Flames.
But the Bobcats weren’t out of the woods, making costly errors in the third. A wild pitch from Favieri and a bouncing ball that redirected off of junior shortstop Dominick Proctor handed Liberty two more runs.
And unfortunately for Quinnipiac, the hits literally kept coming. Junior right-hand pitcher Ryan Hutchinson started the fourth, giving up a lead-off walk and hit.
Junior third baseman Cam Foster knocked in both runners on a sharp ground ball into shallow left. Proctor made a diving backhanded stab to hold Foster at first but injured himself in the process.
“I don’t know a lot,” head coach John Delaney said of Proctor on the ESPN+ broadcast. “He has a shoulder injury. It’s tough to see an older guy like that going through this right now.”
With a seven-run deficit and the absence of Proctor, it was difficult for the Bobcats to be productive at the plate. Senior designated hitter Sean Swenson made some noise with a standup double in the fifth, but nothing followed.
“We’re lacking a little firepower,” Delaney said on the ESPN+ broadcast. “We’re just not getting the right swings on pitches that we can handle. It’s putting us in situations where we’re not being able to put guys on base.”
The Bobcats finally caught a break after a scoreless inning from junior right-hand pitcher Jack Gannon. But Gannon’s relief didn’t last long. In the bottom of the sixth, sophomore designated hitter Todd Hudson blasted a three-run home run to give Liberty a 10-0 lead.
Senior third baseman Sebastian Mueller reached first in the top of the seventh, followed by a long single from shortstop Kyle Garbowski. But it was too little, too late for the Bobcats to get cooking.
Quinnipiac held Liberty’s relentless offense scoreless for the remainder of the game, but the Bobcats couldn’t get the bats going. Sophomore right-hand pitcher Dylan Mathiesen shut the door on Quinnipiac in the ninth to secure the 10-0 win.
The Bobcats’ three-game stint against Liberty continues Saturday at 2 p.m.
